Casholton Kingston upon Thames Wandsworth and other places but the River Thames which is a great part in this County is the most Remarkable and the little River Mole that runs a great way under Ground and rises again It sends Members to Parliament 14 viz. The Borough of Southwark 2 Rygate 2 Blechenley 2 Gatton 2 Guilford 2 Haslemore 2 and 2 Knights of the Shire SURREY By J. Seller The Seats of Pleasure are Richmond belonging to the Royal Family Albury and Waybridge to the Duke of Norfolk Nonsuch to the Duke of Southampton Rowhampton to the Duke of Devon Byflet to the Duke of St. Albans Flanchford to the Earl of Plymouth Rygate Place to the Lord Mordant Towting Graveny to the Lord North and Grey and the Bishop of Winchesters Place in Southwark called Winchester-House The Reign of HENRY the Fifth commonly called Henry of Monmouth THis Henry the greater part of his Fathers Reign was much lead away by evil Company and was not free from committing in his Frolicks Robberies on the Highway especially on his own Receivers and one of his Gang being taken and about to be Sentenced in the Court of Kings Bench he rushed in and laboured to pull off his Irons in order to set him at Liberty but the Lord Chief Justice commanded him to desist whereupon in a rage he went up to the Bench and Struck him on the Face for which after he had given him some mild Reproofs as that the Bench he sat on was the Kings and that himself in that place represented his Person and what Injury was done to him was done to the King and if he shewed such evil Examples none would Obey him when he came to Reign he sent him to the Kings Bench Prison till the Kings pleasure should be known in the matter The King no sooner heard of it but he commended the Judge for his Courage and Impartiality wishing all his Ministers were like him and though the Prince was Enlarged yet for this he was put from his Presidentship in the Council and his Younger Brother Thomas Duke of Clarence placed therein to his great Grief These and other Irregular Passages of his past Years when he was Crowned by Arundel Arch Bishop of Canterbury at Westminster he wisely considered and to repair what had been amiss strictly forbid the Leud Companions of his Youth to enter his Court or any where come near his Person till he had some cause to believe they had reformed and mended their Manners yet ordered some of them who had run out their Estates in pursuing his wild Extravagancies small Pensions to Subsist on till they could better provide for themselves Electing none for his Councel nor into Places of Justice or publick Government but such as were of known Integrity Wise Sober and not to be Biased through fear or favour greatly labouring to Reform the Abuses of the Clergy and for the better security of the Marches he caused the Castles and Towns thereabouts to be Repaired and Strongly Garisoned by which means he Awed the Scots and Welsh and kept his People free from their former fears and apprehensions of danger And the better to shew he had no hand in nor was consenting to the Death of King Richard he caused his Body to be brought from Langley to Westminster in much Funeral Pomp and to be Interred by Queen Ann his beloved Wife In the Second Year of his Reign he Assembled a Parliament at Leicester wherein he was Importunately Addressed to supress Religious Houses where they were ill mannaged and in stead of promoting Godly Lives had been made the Nurseries of Gluttony Idleness Pride and all Uncleanness considering they would yield into his Coffers an Annual Rent of 20000 l which might be better Employed for the Support of the Crown and Honour and Safety of the Kingdom in maintaining 15 Earls 1500 Knights and more than 6000 Men at Arms besides a great Number of Almes Houses for the support and relief of the Poor This much startled the Abbots Priors Fryers Monks Nuns c. as fearing to be Vn-Hived and forced to Labour for their Livings which they were little able to do considering they had so long been inured to a habit of Idleness and therefore to turn the Stream another way at their instant Entreaties Henry Chichesly who Succeeded Thomas Arundel in the Archiepiscopal See of Canterbury took an opportunity in a very Learned Oration to make the King sensible of his Right to the Crown of France inciting him to Claim it as his proper Inheritance and in the Clergies behalf for the carrying on the Wars he offered a large Sum of Money whereupon the other business was laid aside and nothing now considerably debated or spoken of but how the King might Recover France The People every where shewing a willingness to Embark in the Undertaking And a Noble Embassy was sent to King Charles the Sixth peremptorily to demand the peaceable delivery of the Kingdom together with the Dutchies of Aquitain Normandy Anjou and whatever had formerly appertained to the Crown of England and if the French King without Effusion of Blood would yield to his demands he would take the Lady Catherine the Kings Daughter to Wife and Endow her with all the Dutchies and Provinces and be tractable in every thing tending to the French King's Honour and Estate but upon the Refusal he would attempt the gaining it by the Sword and bring on that Kingdom all the Miseries that are inseparable attendants on a cruel War The unexpected strangeness of this Message so amazed the French King and his Nobles that they could make no ready Answer but promised to send Ambassadors to King Henry who should endeavour to Adjust this weighty Affair yet the Dauphin of France had no sooner notice of the King's Demands but despising his Youth and holding him unfit to attempt a matter of so high a consequence in a scoffing manner sent him a Tun of Racket-Balls to sport with in his Tennis-Court This so Angered him that He Vowed by Gods assistance ere many Months were over he would toss so many Iron Balls within the Kingdom of France that their strongest Rackets should be too weak to turn them And hereupon he Levied a puissant Army so that the Dauphin seeing him in earnest began to repent of his Rashness and governing Affairs under his Father whose Imbecility rendered him not very capable of it he sent Ambassadors to Inform King Henry That if he would desist from his Purpose and Live in Amity with that Nation and take the Lady Catharine his Sister to Wife he should then receive with her a large Sum of Money with some small Territories and Possessions in that Kingdom To this King Henry Replied That unsess with the Lady he might have the Dutchies of Normandy Anjou Aquitain and all the other Signories to him and to his Crown justly appertaining he would not wave his Title to the Crown of France but attempt by all Hostile means to win it
off in Five Days tho' the Physitians gave out he dyed of a Malignant Fever Whatever his Disease was it carried him off on the 6th of November 1610. in the blossom of his Youth he being 18 Years 8 Months and 17 Days Old He was a Prince of Extraordinary Wisdom and Piety much above his Years Of strength and ability of Body equal to most Men of a Noble and Heroick Disposition and an hater of Flattery and Flatterers He had an high Esteem of Sir Walter Rawleigh and used to say No other King but his Father would keep such a Man as Sir Walter in such a Cage meaning the Tower He kept his Court at St. James's which was much frequented by the most sober of both the Nobility and Gentry Something of the gravity of the Prince's temper may be known by the following story Once when the Prince was hunting the Stagg it chanced that the Stagg being spent crossed the Road where a Butcher and his Dog were travelling and the Butchers Dog killed the Stag which was so great that the Butcher could not carry him off When the Huntsmen and Company came up they fell at odds with the Butcher and endeavoured to incense the Prince against him to whom the Prince soberly Answered What if the Butcher's Dog killed the Stagg what could the Butcher help it They Replyed If his Father had been served so he would have Sworn at that rate That no Man could have endured it Away replyed the Prince All the Pleasure in the World is not worth an Oath In the time of his Sickness a Person whom he lov'd and who had been the Companion of his Diversions coming to see him and asking him how he did the Prince among many other sober Expressions answer'd him thus Ah Tom I in vain wish for that time I lost with thee and others in vain Recreations But England was not worthy of so great a Blessing as the Life of this Excellent Prince For whom notwithstanding the Court was not long in Mourning because of the Nuptials that ensued and the Elector Palatine having been highly Feasted and Entertained departed with his Bride The King having raised one Sir Robert Carr who had been his Page high in his Favour creating him Viscount Rochester so that he Acted as it were all in all and the Earl of Essex's Lady falling in Love with him and complaining of her Husbands inability in performing his Nocturnal Duties the King gave order to the Archbishop that a Divorce might be sued out which accordingly was done and she Married the Viscount But Sir Thomas Overbury who had been his great Favorite inveighing much against this Marriage and labouring to disswade him from it because the Lady lay under much scandal of Lust and Incontinency was by his and her procurement committed to the Tower and there by tampering with Sir Gervis Ellows the Lieutenant of that Garison and one Weslon and others they procured him to be Poisoned and the Earl of Northampton who was privy to it the better to colour the business gave out he dyed of the Pox and that strange noisom Sores were found on his Body but this did not long conceal so wicked a practice for it proved their Ruine Northampton dyed soon after in a Melancholly disordered condition and a little after the Apothecaries Man who was hired to give Sir Thomas Overbury a Glister that had been poisoned falling Sick at Flushing revealed what he knew as to the Poisoning and who was concerned in it This News coming over by the means of Sir Ralph Winwood who had been Ambassador in Holland made a great noise and more and more suspicion appearing the King sent for the Judges to search narrowly into the Truth of it Imprecating a Curse on them and their Posterity if they were negligent in it and the like on himself and Posterity if he favoured any Guilty Person so that the Viscount made Earl of Somerset in consideration of his Marriage with the Lady Catharine Howard Daughter to the Duke of Suffolk and Niece to the Earl of Northampton who had been Divorced from the Earl of Essex when he had got his Pardon signed as being charged before with Imbezling the Crown Jewells c. had it stopped under the Broad Seal and the Lord Chief Justice Cook sending for him he went to the King to complain of the Indignity put upon him looking on it as a great presumption in the Man that had done it But the King much to his dissatisfaction replied Thou must go then for if Cook sends for me I must go too and when he parted with him turning his back he smiling said I shall never see thy Face more and the same Day the Earl and his Countess were made Prisoners and divers others as Weston Mrs. Turner a great confident of the Countesses Sir Jarvis Ellows and one Frankling The Four last being first Tryed were found Guilty received Sentence of Death and were Executed confessing the fact and soon after the Earl and his Countess were Tryed and Condemned but the King Pardoned them or rather Reprieved them giving them only a Lease of their Lives for Term of Years utterly Banishing them the Court and his Favour So that deprived of all Honours places of Trust and Fortunes they led mean and despicable Lives the dying very miserably her Privy Parts Rotting and he of Discontent and Melancholly So punctual is God in his Providence to revenge Innocent Blood on the shedders of it and bring them to shame even in this Life The fall of this Favourite made way to the rise of George Villers Son to Sir George Villers of Lancashire by a second venture who being a comely Person and his Parts improved by Travel the King upon his first arrival at Court cast his Eyes on him made him his Cupbearer at large and in the End created him Duke of Buckingham growing in a little time as high in favour as the former doing all with the King as he pleased and continued so to do till he was Stabbed by one Felton at Portsmouth as will appear in the next Reign Sir Thomas Mason being Arraigned as concerned in the Murther of Overbury had his Tryal set aside and the Lord Chief Justice chequed for venturing to insinuate That in this there might be the Discovery of more than a Private Person intimating tho' not plainly That Overbury's untimely remove had something in it of retaliation as if he had been guilty of the same crime against Prince Henry and glancing some what that the Earl of Northampton had but how truly I determine not assured the Lieutenant of the Tower That the making away of Sir Thomas Overbury would be acceptable to the King he had his wings ever after clipped Soon after this the Lady Arabella Dyed in the Tower which set Mens Tongues and Fears on work that she followed the same fate but nothing publick appeared in it She was Daughter to Charles Stewart Younger Brother to the King's Father and
England of the most Religious and Sanctified Persons he could Nominate This was called the Little-Parliament and indeed they did Little exept it were making an Act against Tythes and an Act for Marriages by a Justice of Peace and then being weary of their Power they gave it up to Oliver who had given it to them And now another sort of Government comes next For the Officers of the Army had drawn up a new System and presented it to Oliver desiring him to take the Government upon him under the Title of Protector of the Common-wealth of England Scotland and Ireland He at first made a shew of refusing it tho' every one believ'd there was nothing that he desir'd more but being further pressed to it he accepted of it and was that afternoon install'd at Westminster Tho' the Dutch had been already severely beaten and were extreamly Solicitous for a Peace yet that they might get the better Terms they resolved to try the Fortune of War once more which yet prov'd more in-auspicious to them than the former for in the next Battel which was on the 29th of July 1653. Admiral Van Trump was Slain and 33 Sail of Ships sunk to the bottom of the Ocean out of which 1200 men were Sav'd by the English taken up out of Boats and swimming in the Sea This was so great a Mortification to the Dutch that the States were afraid of a general Revolt And therefore they forthwith apply'd themselves to Oliver for a Peace which in the Infancy of his new Government he was willing to Grant upon reasonable Terms tho' they were reduc'd to so low a Condition that he might have made what Terms he pleas'd The Success the English had against the Dutch made other Nations fear Cromwel The Spanish Ambassador coming early to Congratulate his Authority and the Portugals came in a Splendid Embassy to sue for Peace Nor were the French backward to own his Power So that he had now no apprehension of Trouble but only from the Royalists to suppress whom a Plot was soon after found out of several Persons for an intended Assassination of the Protector and several Persons Executed for it The King about this time went into Germany and Solicited several of the Princes there for assistance but with little Success Ireland being wholly reduc'd to Obedience the Marquess of Ormond and the Lord Inchiqueen having timely withdrawn themselves and Embarqued for France an Itinerant High Court of Justice was set up and several of the chief Rebels that began the Massacre in Forty-One were Try'd and Executed for the same among which that notorious Villain Sir Philem O Neal was Hang'd and Quarter'd and his Head plac'd upon Dublin-bridge Some attempts for a rising having been made by several of the Nobility of Scotland they were utterly Defeated by General Monk who was made Commander in chief of that Kingdom And now the Protector having according to the Articles of Government called a Parliament who beginning to Question the Power by which they were called they were soon dissolved again and several of the Royalists taken up about a new Conspiracy The Protector about this time having a mind to some of the Spaniards Indian-Gold sent a Fleet and Army to surprize Hispaniola in the West-Indies but sailing in that attempt by the ill Conduct of General Venablers they went from thence to the Island of Jamaica which they took and which has continued ever since in the Power of the English being now a very rich and flourishing Plantation And General Blake being with his Fleet in the Streights and coming before Tunis and sending to the Governour to demand Satisfaction for the Wrongs done by their People to the English and that the English Captives there might be deliver'd to him had return'd for answer That their Castles of Guletto and Porta Ferina were both well Mann'd and furnished with Ordnance and therefore they did not fear him Whereupon Blake with his great Ships and their Seconds came into the Bay of Porta Ferina within Musquet-shot of the Castle and fired with such fury upon them notwithstanding the frequent Discharges of sixty Great Guns upon his Ships that in two Hours the Castle was made Defenceless and all their Guns dismounted at the same time Burning Nine of their Ships which he found in the Road. This Noble Action strook such a Terror not only upon Tunis who were willing then to Submit to Blakes Proposals but also upon Algeirs and Triâ—olâ— that they quickly came to a Treaty and a Peace was made very much to the Advantage of the English About this time there having been an horrible Massacre made upon the Poor Protestants of Piedmont by the Command of the Duke of Savoy 〈◊〉 the instigation of the Popish Priests and Jesuits the Protector espous'd their Quarrel and not only sent to the Duke on their behalf causing his Edict against them to be recall'd but likewise caus'd a solemn Day of Humiliation to be kept and vast Sums of Money Collected throughout all England for their Relief and sent it or at least part of it by Sir Samuel Moreland to them which made Oliver be look'd upon abroad as the great Patron of the Reformed Religion Upon the War made with Spain by the attempt upon Hâ—spaniola and Jamaica before-mentioned a Peace ensued with France by which among other Articles the King and his Royal Brothers were excluded that Kingdom After which Rear-Admiral Stayner with a part of the English Fleet set upon eight Spanish Ships within four Leagues of the Bay of Cadiz the Admirals Ship in which was General Don Marco del Porto with 600000 pieces oâ— Eight ran ashore in the Bay the Vice-Admiral Commanded by Don Francisco de Esquevel and having in heâ— 1200000 pieces of Eight was taken as was also another Ship Commanded by Don Rodiques Calderon both theâ— were set on Fire one by the Spaniards themselves to prevent their being made Prisoners and the other by accident Two other very rich Ships were taken and kept and severâ— of the Spanish Nobles being taken were brought up tâ— London but Oliver being satisfied with the Treasure takâ— in the Ships dealt very Generously with the Spanish Nobleâ— and after a small time of detaining them here sent theâ—â— home without Ransom The next Year General Blaâ—â— lying with some Ships near Cadiz to watch for they turn of the Spanish Plate-Fleet had intelligence that they were put into the Bay of Santa-Cruz and sailing thither he discern'd the Spanish Fleet to the number of sixteen barricado'd in the Bay but this did not hinder Blake but that the next Morning he sailed into the Bay and whilst some of his Ships pour'd their Broad-sides into the Castles and Forts he and Stayner fought the Spanish Fleet and obtained an intire Victory but perceiving he could not bring away the Spoil set them all on Fire but one that was Sunk But that which is most wonderful in this Noble Action was That the Wind which blew
were Kill'd and about 300 of lesser Note on our Part The Enemy lost 3000 and were pursued 4 Miles and upon this Defeat Drogheda Surrendred and K. James with part of his broken Army hasted to Dublin and from thence he went to Waterford where soon after he took Ship and Sailed for France and the King of England coming to Dublin was received with all imaginable Demonstrations of Joy and a great many Protestants who had been Imprisoned were set at Liberty the Papists disarmed and the Affairs in those Parts settled and many places that stood out Surrendred The Brass and Copper Money K. James had Coined as passable in that Kingdom was called in or set at the Value of the Metal only Sheriffs appointed and the Face of Justice restored Whilst these things were doing beyond the Seas an Engagement happened between the English and French off Beachy viz. on June 30. in which the Dutch Squadron being forward to gain the Weather-Gage of the Enemy received great Loss many of them being Burnt or so shattered that after the Fight they fell into the Hands of the Enemy the English red Squadron not coming up as was expected for which Miscarriage our Admiral the Earl of Torrington was Tryed but acquitted and after the Fight the French insulted our Coasts burning Tingmouth a Viâ—â—age of Fishers Cots and doing some other Damage after which they retired to their own Coast and one Godfrey Cross an Inn-keeper in Kent for going on Board the Enemy and giving Intelligence was afterward Try'd Condemned and Executed near St. Thomas's Waterings in the Kentish-road from London And this Year the King besieged Lymerick in Ireland but by reason of the Strength of the Place advancing of the Season and great Rains that over-flowed the River Shannon on which it is seated having in vain summoned it he drew off and returned to England But our Fleet standing to that Coast and the Earl of Marlborough on board it with considerable Land-Forces and joyned upon Landing by part of the Army already there they took Cork and Kinsale with little Loss at the Siege of the first the Noble Duke of Grafton amongst others pressing too forwards on the Works was Slain by a small Shot A Plot was soon after Discovered to have set the City of Dublin on Fire and in that Hurry to have fallen on the King ' Forces in Garison there and by a miserable Slaughter to have Surprized it but some Letters intimating the Intention being found by the Care of the Lord Sidney and Conningsby whom the King had appointed lords-Lords-Justices the Mischief was prevented by securing Suspected Persons And now the Parliament of England waited on the King with their humble Addresses of Thanks for the great Things he had done for these Kingdoms and to Congratulate his happy Return and Success and the King was not slow by Marks of Honour and Promotion to Gratify those that had well-behaved themselves in the Service and among others Coll. Cuts was Created Baron of Gowran in the Kingdom of Ireland he also appointed his Privy Council there and all other Officers of State Judges and Magistrates restored such as had been outed and appointed some new Bishops causing a Regulation of the Clergy in General The Winter thus passing on the King prepared to pass the Seas to be at the Congress of Princes and Embassadors appointed at the Hague to Concert the Measures for carrying on the War against France and after he had passed several Acts and Prorogu'd the Parliament he Embarq'd with a splendid Train of Nobility and with great Difficulty by reason of the Ice it being January Landed near Maesland-sluys and being Complemented by the Deputies of the States passed to the Hague where the States General and Council of State with other Colledges made their Complements to him as also the Foreign Ministers and to make his Reception the more Magnificent three Triumphal Arches were Erected one by the States-General and two by the Magistrates with sundry Motto's and Devices Expressing the great things he had done and what more Glorious were Promised from his Heroick Virtues too many here to Enumerate and in the Evening the Cannon Illuminations Fire-works and shouts of the People spoke more loudly the Welcome of a Prince that has so well deserved of that Nation And at his first appearing in the Assembly of the States-General taking his Place at the upper-end of the Table he with many Obliging Expressions declared his Affections and good Inclinations to them in a most Elegant Speech which being deliberated on the Heer Van Wickers President of the Assembly in the name of the rest made a suitable Answer and the Duke of Brandenburg and other Princes being met a League and strict Amity was agreed on for restoring the Peace and Tranquility of Europe in reducing by Arms the Grand Disturber of it to Reason and a Restitution of what he had wrongfully either by Surprize or Vioolence taken from the Confederates for which War had been Proclaimed by them Whilst the King was thus busy beyond the Seas some ill-affected Persons were Designing at home to betray our Strengths into the Hands of the Common Enemy by giving account of the Ports Shipping and what else might facilitate an Invasion and on this account the Lord Preston John Ashton and Edmund Elâ—ot were seized in a Smack as they were passing out of the River of Thames by Captain Billop and Papers of Dangerous Consequence found with which they were designed for France for which the two first being Tryed and found Guilty of High-Treason Ashton was Executed The King having appointed the Baron D' Ginkle chief Commander of his Forces in Ireland having received Supplies and Stores from England he besieged Ballymore which surrendred upon Discretion And having Garisoned it the Army marched and set down before Athlone where they had put up French Colours to make him believe the Garison mostly consisted of that Nation However a Breach being made and succeeded by a vigorous Attack the Base Town was soon won and the other followed the same Fate in a short time tho' their whole Army lay behind it and the Soldiers furiously entring a great many were put to the Sword This was no sooner Repaired and Garisoned but the Army pursued the Retreating Enemy and in a long-Contested Battel at Aghrim gave them a total Rout so that they never considerably appeared in the Field after it St. Ruth the French General was slain with a Cannon-shot at the beginning of the Fight and all their Cannon Baggage Ammunition and Plunder of the Camp fell to the share of our Men. And being Refreshed they marched to Galloway which place after a considerable Battery was Surrendred on Articles and the Garison marched to Lymerick which was the next place besieged but holding out Obstinately and having in it a numerous Garison it was thought fit after a considerable Siege to grant advantagious Articles and as many as would had leave to depart the Kingdom And
which made them divide into parties to decide their Quarrel by the Sword yet the King fearing this might Involve many of his Subjects in Ruin and shake the Quiet of the whole Kingdom interposed his Authority and Mediation to make them Friends But whilst this was doing Prince Edward the Kings Son taking advantage of their difference departed secretly from Court and consorting with the Earls of Glocester and Warren Sr. Roger Mortimer and others they raised an Army on the Marches of Wales and fell on the Earl of Leicesters Forces with such fury near Eversham in Worcestershire that they totally Routed them and in this Battel the Earl of Leicester Simon his Eldest Son Sr. Hugh Spencer and many others of note were Slain and so enraged were the Soldiers that they dispitefully used the Earls dead Body by cuting off the Head Hands Feet and Privy Members sending them into divers Shires as Trophies of their Victory This turn of fortunate Success so ellevated the drooping King that he resolved utterly to throw off his Fetters and assume his Kingly Authority uncontrouled whereupon whilst his Enemies were full of fear and mistrust and their strength in a manner utterly broken he summoned a Parliament which conforming to his will more through dread of his Anger than voluntarily Repealed the Laws and Ordinances made in the Oxford Parliament disannuling the Authority of the Twelve Peers and all Patents Commissions and Instruments whatsoever that tended to the Establishing and Ratifying those things were by the Kings express Commandment brought forth publickly Cancelled and made void by which means he regained his former Power and Liberty to say and do as he pleased This Parliament was no sooner ended but the King expressed his anger towards the City of London because as is alledged the Rulers and Inhabitants had always despised him and taken part with the Barons against him vowing to consume it with Fire and leave it in a heap of Rubbish as a lasting Monument of their Rebellion to succeeding Ages and so firmly had he determined it That all his Friends and Favorits had much ado to avert him from this purpose nor could it be done till the Citizens caused an Instrument in Writing to be drawn and Ratified it with their common Seal by which they Confessed their Rebellion humbly craving Pardon and without any restraint or exception submitted their Lands Goods Lives and the whole City to the Kings Grace and Mercy Whereupon paying 1000 Marks Fine they were Restored to their Liberties and Customs which had been seized into the Kings hands during which space they had suffered much dammage yet for what Wrongs soever they received they could find no Redress And many Robberies and Piracies during the Wars being committed by the Inhabitants of the Cinque-Ports to hinder his Courts of Justice being pestered with many Complaints he ordered they should be heard in the Courts within the Jurisdiction of those Ports where the Persons agrieved expecting little redress because the Inhabitants were parties few Complaints after that were made Gilbert Clare Earl of Glocester by his revolt from the Barons and joyning his Interest with the Prince expecting high preferment for the success that had given the King all these Advantages and not meeting with it agreeable to his mind grew angry and Meditating Revenge retired from Court into the City where the Citizens forgeting how lately they had been Pardoned and the danger they were in flocked to him in great Numbers and then Sallying through Temple Bar went to the Kings Palace at Westminster which they Rifled with the Houses of many Court Favourites in and out of the City This Outrage made the King pronounce no less than utter Destruction to them But the Prince and Kings Counsellours fearing such severity might renew the Civil War as dangerous as ever with much ado pacified him so far that he Granted a Pardon to the Earl of Glocester and all that had Acted in the late Tumult Yet the Earl finding but cold Entertainment at Court fearing some mischief might befal him at home Made it his request to the King that he would send him with an Army to make War in the Holy Land This motion tho' it tended to much charge and expence pleased the King well for he considered if he continued at home he would still be Plotting but abroad he could little injure the quiet of the Government so that an Army being raised the Earl repented him of his Undertaking and feigned so many causes for delay that the King took the Command out of his hand and gave it to Prince Edward who Transported the Army into Palestine and by his valorous Acts brought such a Terror on the Turks and Sarazens That they seldom if they could avoid it adventured themselves against the Christians in that Quarter where the Prince drew up and the Terror of his coming made them raise the Siege of the City of Acon which they had pressed hardly for a long time with 100000 Men which made them secretly contrive his Death For a Sarazen under pretence of delivering him a Letter Stabbed him in the Arm with an Impoisoned Knife whereupon the Prince struck him down with his Foot and upon the noise his Guards coming in cut the Villan in pieces yet so desperate was the Wound by reason of the venom that the Surgeons declared That unless any at the hazard of their Lives would daily suck the Wound to draw away the Poison his Life could not be saved this when all his Courtiers strained Courtesie to do or utterly refused was undertaken by Elianor his virtuous and loving Wife Sister to the King of Spain who had accompanied him in that tedious Journey and yet she was not at all injured by it And now the King having had some Peace was a little disturbed by a Tumult in Norwich who Burnt the Monastery of the Trinity but he hasting thither they dispersed yet escaped not so for a strict enquiry being made into the matter 50 of the chief Actors were Drawn Hanged and Quartered and their Quarters Burned Soon after this the King fell Sick and Dyed at the Abby of St. Edmund's in Suffolk on the Sixteenth of November Anno Dom. 1275 in the 57th Year of his Reign and 65th of his Age. He was Buried with great Magnificence at Westminster In this Kings Reign an Imposture at the Provincial Synod at Oxford suffered himself to be Wounded in the Hands Feet and Sides saying he was Christ and a Woman that went about with him called herself the Virgin Mary but being taken and closed up between two Walls they there miserably perished On St. Paul's Day in the 15th Year of his Reign such an unusual Thunder and Lightening happened That whilst Roger Niger Bishop of London was at Mass in St. Paul's the Cathedral was so shaken that the People verily supposed it would have falln and that they should have been burned with the flashes of Lightening whereupon all except the Bishop and Arch-Deacon ran
Warlikâ— Stores who joyning the Scots Army Marched intâ— England but upon notice of King Richard's approacâ— with a formidable Army they crossed the Mountain into Wales leaving Scotland open to the English who Burnt Edenburg St. Johnstons Sterling and Dundee anâ— having harassed the Country almost from Sea to Seâ— they returned Laden with much Booty This greâ—â— Loss so perplexed the Scots who had got little Plundeâ— among the Barren Mountains that on their returâ— they made the French Admiral and most that Atteâ—â—â—â— him of note Prisoners till the French King who 〈◊〉 precipitated them into this War should make 〈◊〉 satisfaction as designing his own Interest and â—â—vantage by it and not theirs and tho' he was very â—â—gry at it yet the Scots kept them Prisoners till the â—â—ey demanded was sent for their Ransoms This â—red up the French King to raise a mighty Army with â—â—solution to Conquer England and to Transport it 〈◊〉 prepared 1200 Ships but when they had a long â—e in their unruly March Plundered the French and â—nings and by reason the Duke of Berry the Kings â—kle who was to command them approving not 〈◊〉 Enterprize delay'd to come to them their wants â—e so great that to supply them they Sold their â—rses Armour Weapons and lastly their Cloaths 〈◊〉 then fell so horribly to Plundering the Country 〈◊〉 the French King not able to endure the cries and â—plaints of the oppressed People and dispairing to 〈◊〉 any thing in England with such a half-starved disâ—erly Rout Disbanded them after he had been at â—000 l. Charge The English Nobles now began grievously to comâ—n of the Kings breaking his Oath and Promises in â—rkening to the evil Counsels and Advice of Robert 〈◊〉 Vere Michael De La Poole Alexander Arch Bishop 〈◊〉 York Nicholas Bamber and Robert Trisillian his Chief â—ice together with those flattering Judges who to â—se the King had Subscribed to the Nullity of the â—mmission and had Censured all such as procured it â—e Traitors to the King c. Intreating him to â—ish them the Kingdom but he would in no wise â—rken to any Proposals of parting with those Favoâ— who for their better safety counselled him to give 〈◊〉 Callice and his other Towns in France to the French â—g and rely on him for Aid to curb those proud Subjects who sought to Enslave him their Soveraign but this he looked on as dangerous and would not agree to it But the Nobles finding no Redress flying to Arms he practiced with the Lord Mayor of London to raise him an Army in and about the City which he laboured to do but the Graver Citizens who were well affected to the Nobles not only refused to further it but hindered it all they could declaring it was a means to hasten the desolation of that great City humbly beseeching the King not to require any such thing at their hands but rather seek an Accommodation of Differences This extreamly vexed him but finding he misseâ— of his purpose he dissembled his displeasure and laid aside that Project yet forgot them not But some time after this desiring a Loan of 1000 l. and it being refused him he seized into his hands their Charter and Liberties dissolved their proper Magistracy turning out John Hind their Mayor Henry Warner and John Shadworth Sherifs appointing Sir Edward Dallingredge Warden of the City However finding he could not raise such an Army as he intended by reason most of his inferiour Subjects were well affected to the Lords because they sought not to injure the King but to remove his evil Counsellours who were great Oppressors and Disquieters of the Kingdom he promised to call â— Parliament wherein matters might be Debated with out heat or animosity and that there his five Favors should be Answerable to all Objections and if Convicted stand to such publick Censure or Punishment as the Parliament could justly inflict on them This Concession much pleased the Lords so that they disbanded their Forces and returned the King their humble thanks But it was not long before they were sensible a Snare was laid for them for the Duke of Ireland was privately Levying 5000 Men pretendedly for his Guard and Defence but it was secretly intimated they were to lie in wait in Parties and Surprize the Lords as they were coming to Parliament so that they suddainly recalled their disbanded Forces and shut him up on the Banks of the Thames which he was forced to Swim on Horse-back for the preservation of his Life and posting to the Sea Coast took Shipping for France where some Years after he was Slain in Chasing a wild Boar but so great was then the Kings Love towards him That he caused his Dead Body to be Embalmed brought over and Magnificently Bury'd After the flight of the Duke the Lords Executed some of the chief Ringleaders and suffered the rest to depart to their Houses and so passed with their Army to London where they were Joyfully received by the Citizens The King who kept his Court at the Tower well perceived how much they had gained the Hearts of the greater Part of the People and therefore for his own safety he desired a Conference with them in which it was Agreed a Parliament should be speedily called to Redress Grievances and accordingly a Parliament was Assembled in which the evil Counsellours and corrupt Judges were Sommoned to appear and Answer to the Articles Exhibited against them but upon their default they were Attainted of High Treason against the King and Common-weal and for this John Earl of Salisbury and Sir Nicholas Bambre lost their Heads the Lord Chief Justice Trisilian was Hanged at Tyburn and the rest of these Judges had suffered in like manner had not the Queens incessant supplications prevailed to change their Dooms into Banishment and in this Parliament the state of Affairs was settled to the high contentment of the People And tho' the next Year the Scots began to bustle yet at the Mediation of the French King a Truce was made between the three Kingdoms and King Richard by this means in Peace and Tranquility assisted the Duke of Lancaster to raise an Army when Leaguing with the King of Portugal he Warred on the Spaniard for the Kingdom of Castile which he claimed in Right of his Wife and so prevailed That the Spaniard was compelled to sue for a Peace which was granted on that Kings Marrying Constance the Dukes Eldest Daughter Loading him Eight Waggons with Gold and allowing him and his Dutchess during their Lives 10000 Mark a Year And after having Married Ann his Younger Daughter to the King of Portugal he returned into England Laden with Riches and Honour And now all Appeals to Rome and the Popes Authority in this Kingdom was Abrogated by Parliament and soon after the Vertuous Lady Queen Ann Dyed whose Death so exceedingly grieved the King that for some Weeks he would not be comforted causing the stately House at Sheen in which she Dyed to be utterly Razed
Oxford where having Recruited his Army he marched to Gloucester which he Besieged And Prince Rupert having taken Bristol and gained some other advantages came to him In the mean while Essex hasted away with the City Trained-Bands and Auxiliaries added to his Army and between the King and him a great Battel was Fought on Newbury-heath soon after for upon his coming having raised the Siege he followed the King and having view'd his Army presently Engag'd and after a sharp Fight the King's Party had the worst And now the Parliament getting the Fleet from Sir John Pennington made the Earl of Warwick Admiral and watched the Coast to prevent the Landing of Foreign Forces and Sir John Hotham and hâ—s Son being Tryed for intending to deliver Hull to the King on some Disgust taken were Condemned and Beheaded and the Parliament proclaimed all Traytors that should assist the King against them with Horse Arms or Money and Treason for any Member of their House to Desert them and go to him And soon after the second Newbury Fight ensued in which the King was worsted and between 4 or 5000 Men Slain on both sides after which the Vxbridge Treaty began But the Parliaments Demands were such that it broke off without coming to any Agreement Whilst these and other matters happened in England the Marquess of Montâ—osâ— with a handful of Men performed Wonders in Scotland overthrowing the Lord Burleigh and divers others but not being Succoured as he expected it onâ—â— diverted the Scâ—ts for a time from entring England And upon the Parliaments passing the Self-denying Ordinance the Earls of Essex Manchester and Denbeigh Surrendred their Commissions in the Lords House and 10000 l. per Annum was Voted to Essex out of Delinquents Estates And now Sir Thomas Fairfax was made General of their Army and Oliver Cromwell Lieutenant-General of the Horse and most of the Commission-Officers were Changed and Col. Mitton Surprized Shrewsbury one of the King's head Garisons York being Relieved by Prince Rupert the bloody Fight at Marston-Moor ensued in which 9000 were Slain which occasioned the Surrendering that City and Col. Massey Defeated the Prince at Lebury But that which most Ruined the King was Naseby Battel where besides the slain the greater part of his Soldiers and Officers were taken Prisoners also divers of his menial Servants his Coach and Cabinet of Letters This Battel was Fought in a Fallow-Field on the North-West-side of Naseby a mile broad which Ground was wholly taken up by the Armies so that the Battel was exceeding bloody both sides being vâ—ry Couragious and Numerous not being 500 Odds And here the King besides his Men lost 12 pieces of Cannon 8000 Arms 40 Barrels of Pouder 200 Carriages and his baggage besides his Treasure that should have paid his Army or raised Recruits and was never after able to recover the Blow but faintly Strugled whilst the Parliament Forces swept away almost all his Garisons Oxford being the last of any Note in which the King was closely Besieged and that City made a very stout Resistance but there being no Army in the Field that could relieve it the King fearing a Storm resolved to go thence privately and cast himself for Protection on the Scots Army that was advanced as far as Southwel and thence to New-Castle The Scots promised him Protection and appeared very Joyful of his Presence among them yet all waa but Dissimulation for the English Parliament demanded his Delivery and they wanting their Pay which they could not by any other means foresee they should have in consideration of 200000 l. they Surrendred him Prisoner and immediately marched back over the Tweed in the mean while Oxford Litchfield Worcester Pendennis the Island and Castle of Scilly and many others Surrendred and the few Parties of Royalists that made Head were frequently routed But briefly to pass over this Bloody Scene which cannot be very Grateful to English-men I come to a close of this unhappy Reign Having got the King in their Hands they sent him Prisoner to Holmby-Castle whilst many earnestly Laboured for an Accommodation the Surry-men Petitioned but were set upon by the Soldiers some Slain and many Wounded nor fared the Kentish-men better At length a Treaty was set on Foot but Letters were purposely scattered to fright the King away intimating Designs against his Life for then he had a kind of Liberty being brought to Hampton-Court in order to the Treaty When escaping into the Isle of Wight he was there made Prisoner by Coll. Hammond in Carisbrook-Castle and it was Voted No further Address be made to the King But that was afterward Annulled and the King's Concessions Voted Satisfactory and things were in a fair way to an Agreement But the Army Officers knowing their Commissions lasted but with the War dealing under-hand with some designing Men in the Parliament-House who under pretence of a Publick Good had all along along aimed at Self-interest the Soldiers being by Interest and Promises made of their Party all such Members as were for the Accommodation were by Military Force excluded the House and the King brought to Hurst-Castle and afterwards to Windsor and his Party went extreamly to wreck at Maidstone Ponifract Bow Stratford Kingston and Colchester after a brave Resistance being taken Sir Charles Lucas and Sir George Lisle were shot to Death tho' Quarter had been given them And now those Members that were left in the House of Commons contrary to the Consent of the Lords being backed by the Army made an Act as they called it for the Tryal of the King and Erected a Tribunal called by them a High-Court of Justice to that end of which John Bradshaw a Serjeant at Law was President and 56 others as Judges and the King being called before them and accused of several Crimes as that he gave cause for the Cruel Blood-shed in England and Ireland that he had Proclaimed War in setting up his Standard against the Parliament That he had commissioned his Son and others to wage War and therefore was pronounced a Traytor a Tyrant and an Enemy to the Common-wealth of England To this Charge the King refused to Answer or to acknowledge the Authority of the Court offering his Reasons but they were not admitted and being several times brought before them and urged thereunto on his refusal on the the 27th of Jan. 1648. the Sentence was pronounced against him viz. That he the said Charles Steuart was fallen from all Dignity was Guilty of High-Treason and to be put to Death by Severing his Head from his Body for being a Tyrant a Murtherer and an Enemy to the Common-Wealth The Sentence being read the Court stood up in Confirmation of it as an Act and Resolution of them all and the King offering to speak was Violently Hurried away by the Guard And tho' the Dutch Embassador the Scots and most of the English Nobles interceeded to stay Execution he was on the 30th of Jan. 1648. brought from St. James's to White-Hall
in St. Bartholomew's-Lane on the Back-side of the Royal-Exchange where any one may see the Truth of this Entry I am assured Mr Hinton was in Court at Oats 's Tryal to have testified this but was terrified from it for fear of being Vndone But how true soever Oats's Testimony was he was found guilty of Perjury upon both Points before Jefferies his Colleagues and had Sentence to be Whipt from Aldgate to Newgate on the Wednesday and on the Friday from Newgate to Tyburn which was so severely Executed that he received at his two Whippings 13000 Stripes besides which he was to stand in the Pillory five times in the Year and to be a Prisoner during Life And soon after Mr. Dangerfield was Sentenc'd to undergo the like Punishment which yet had a more Fatal Issue for discovering the Meal-Tub-Plot of which I have spoken in King Charles his Reign For Dangerfield returning back from his last Whipping was run into the Eye by one Francis which touching his Brain he dy'd of the Wound in a few Hours For which Francis was afterwards Hang'd Soon after the King 's coming to the Crown care was taken to provide a Parliament fit for the King's purpose to which way had been made the latter end of his Brother's Reign by Quo Warranto's against Corporations and by the surrender of Charters and they met the latter end of May Where the King made the same Speech to them for Substance which he did at first to his Privy Council adding That he expected they should settle his Revenue during his Life which he must not suffer to be Precarious And the Parliament answer'd his Ends settling the Excise and Customs upon him during his Life which indeed he took before without their giving him and gave him other Moneys beside During the sitting of the Parliament on the 11th of June the Duke of Monmouth arrived at Lime in Dorset-shire with three Ships whereof one was a Man of War of 32 Guns and about 80 Men and having Landed and taken possession of the Town without any Opposition he Published a Declaration wherein he Declared he came over to restore the Kingdom to it 's Antient Rights and Priviledges which were all invaded by the Duke of York and his Adherents the Instruments of his Tyranny charging him with the Murder of the Earl of Essex and of the late King c. And inviting the Nobility Gentry and Commons to come in to him and to assist him for the recovery of their lost Liberties and bringing the Duke of York to speedy Justice Tho' at the Duke's Landing his Complement wanted of an Hundred yet upon Notice of his being Landed he quickly encreas'd so that in a few Days he was several Thousands strong so that leaving Lime he went to Taunton encreasing still as he went King James in the mean time having his Parliament by him first puts out a Proclamation for apprehending of Monmouth and offers 5000 l. as a Reward for any that should take him and the Parliament to shew their Loyalty maâ—e an Act attainting him of High-Treason And besides this the King sent several of his Forces down against him under the Command of the Lord Feversham The Duke of Albermarle in Devonshire had rais'd the Militia of the County for the King and brought his Forces within a quarter of a Mile of the Duke who prepar'd to Fight him But the Duke of Albermarle perceiving that his Forces were inclin'd rather to Fight for Monmouth than against him withdrew with s me Precipitation without doing any thing being fearful of being pursu'd by Monmouth which if Monmouth had done he had certainly put him to the Rout and taken all his Arms which was the only thing that Monmouth wanted The King's Forces were now come into the West and at Phillip's-Norton met with the Duke of Monmouth between whom and the King's Forces there was a brisk Rencounter wherein the King's Forces retreated with Loss Monmouth's Men firing fiercely upon them Soon after the Duke marched to Cansham-bridge intending to go for Bristol but hearing the Duke of Beaufort was with a Body of Men to oppose him in his way he turn'd about and went to Bridge-water whither the King's Forces followed him and lay at a place called Sedge-moor there in the dead time of the Night on Sunday the 5th of July the Duke with a Guide Marches against the King's Forces with 3000 Foot and 1000 Horse and falling upon them a very fierce Fight ensued the Duke's Foot fighting incomparable well but his Horse hardly ever came up and his Foot having spent all their Ammunition and being put in Disorder by the King's Horse in the end were put to the Rout the Duke of Monmouth himself with the Lord Gray and some others making their Escape and riding towards the Borders of Hampshire where on the 8th of July the Duke was taken as also the Lord Gray and a Noble Brandenburger that came over with him They were all brought to London with a strong Guard on the 13th and the D. after having been Examined at Whitehall was Committed to the Tower and being already attainted by Parliament a Warrant was signed by the King for his Execution and on the 15th of July he was Beheaded on Tower-hill many pittying of him but none being able to help him But this was one Specimen more of K. James's Love to so good and kind a Brother as K. Charles the II. had been to him cutting off the Head of his beloved Son After the Duke's Defeat at Sedgmoor many of his Followers were taken and put in Prison and then the Chief Justice Jefferies was sent down to keep the Assizes there where he acted so many barbarous things that 't is a shame to Name them and Posterity will scarce believe them For in the Counties of Dorset and Sommerset above three Hundred Persons were Executed and their Heads and Quarters were set upon Poles and placed both in all the chief Towns and in the Roads and High-ways for many Miles together both to the Terror and Annoyance of Travellers as they past along And thus it is that King James performs his Word to his Privy-Council at his first coming to the Crown of his endeavouring to follow the Example of his dear Brother in all things especially in that of his great Tenderness and Clemency to his People But it is not all the Blood shed in the West that will Suffice there are still other Victims to be offer'd up for upon Tuesday the 13th of October 1685. Alderman Cornish was taken off of the Exchange where he was following his Business without any apprehension of Danger towards him thinking his own Innocency a sufficient Defence and committed close Prisoner to Newgate and on the Saturday night following had Notice to prepare for his Tryal on Monday at which time he was Tryed for High-Treason in promising to assist the Duke of Monmonth the Lord Russel Sir Thomas Armstrong c. against King Charles the Second
in the Year 1682. The chief Witness against him was Rumsey who Swore That the Declaration for a Rising being read Alderman Cornish being present and being ask'd how he lik'd it he answer'd Very well and what poor Interest he had he would join in it And yet this Fellow at the Lord Russel's Tryal Swore Cornish was not there when the Declaration was read nor knew nothing of it However the Alderman's Death was resolved on and both Judge and Jury being agreed he was found Guilty Condemn'd and on the 23th of the same Month executed in Cheapside over against the Guild-Hall of the City Declaring his Innocency as to what he was Condemn'd for to the very last And indeed Heaven it self attested it for him for his Execution was follow'd with such a dreadful Storm of Wind attended with Thunder Lightning and Rain as the like has scarce happened at that time of the Year in the Memory of Man His true Crime was That he was a Zealous Protestant that had serv'd the City Faithfully in his Shrievalty and had Examined Fitz-Harris in Newgate and had like to have discovered the Depth of that cursed Design against the Protestants The same Day also one Mrs. Gaunt a Woman of great Goodness and Charity was burn'd at Tyburn for relieving a Lieutenant under Monmouth in the West himself being the Witness against her for which he had his Pardon And now the Parliament met again and the King tells them how he had Defeated Monmouth and that several Popish Officers had been very useful to him therein that he could not be without their Service and that the Militia was not sufficient without keeping up a standing Army and hopes they will help him to Defray the Charge but the Parliament address to him to Disband his Popish Officers and offers to pass an Act to Indempnify them from the Penalties they had already incurr'd in serving without having taken the Test appointed by Law This Address of the Commons was very surprising to the King who expected from them absolute Obedience without Reserve But the King was much more Surpriz'd when he understood that the Bishop of London had made a motion in the House of Lords to take the King's Speech into Consideration as fearing the Lords would concur with the Commons in their Address But the King was resolved to prevent it and therefore first Prorogued and soon after Dissolved the Parliament who had been so large in their Supplies the first Session that now too late they saw he was able to live without them The Parliament's questioning of the Popish Officers had put them all into a Fright but the Parliament being Dissolved they were all at ease again and nothing but Popish Officers and Priests and Jesuites are seen about the Court who were grown to an unparallell'd degree of Impudence And yet to find Fault with them was a Crime next to High-Treason But the King finding the Penal Laws and Tests stand as a mighty Obstacle in his way was resolv'd to remove them In order to which the Lord-Keeper North dying while Jefferies was keeping the Bloody Assizes in the West at his return back he had the Seals given him with the Title of Lord-Chancellor as a Reward for his good Service in destroying the Western Hereticks and as an encouragement to him to destroy the Penal Laws and Tests the great Bulwark against Popery And therefore dispensing Power in the King is that which must next be set up in order to effect it And the Judges must be dealt with to give their Opinions for it And I have been certainly told That the King Closetting Sir Thomas Jones about it Sir Thomas was not enough thorow paced but boggled at it and told the King He could not do it to which the King answering He would have twelve Judges of his Opinion Sir Thomas Replyed He might have twelve Judges of his Opinion but he would scarce find twelve Lawyers of his Opinion But the King was as good as his Word and made such Judges as gave their Opinions That the King might dispense with the Penal Laws and Tests out of Parliament The Papists having always look'd upon the Church of England with an evil Eye did so now more than ever they having writ several Elaborate and Learned Books in opposition to the principal Errors of Popery which they were never able to answer But they were resolv'd if they could not deal with them one way they would another and therefore the King granted a Commission for Ecclesiastical Affairs expresly contrary to Law thereby to Curb them This Commission was Granted to the Arch-bishop of Canterbury the Lord Chancellor Jefferies the Earl of Rochester the Earl of Sunderland the Bishop of Durham the Bishop of Rochester and the lord-chief-Lord-Chief-Justice of England But the Arch-bishop of Canterbury refusing to act in it the Bishop of Chester was added Before these Commissioners the Bishop of London was Cited and Suspended for not Suspending Dr. Sharp for Preaching a Sermon against the Corruptions and Frauds of the Church of Rome In Ireland the King having recalled the Duke of Ormond from his Lieutenancy made the Earl of Clarendon Lieutenant and Sir Charles Porter Lord-Chancellor who after their arrival there declared according to their Instructions that the King would preserve the Acts of Settlement and Explanation inviolable as the Magna-Charta of Ireland But at the same time the King having given to Collonel Richard Talbot a Man not at all belov'd by the Protestants an Independent Commission to reform the Army and he turns out those Officers that were firm to the Protestant Religion and the English Interest and puts Notorious Irish Papists in their Room and serves not only the Officers but even the private Troopers and Soldiers that were Protestants in the same manner So that one of the best principled Armies in the World both with respect to Loyalty and a firm adherence to the Protestant Religion was turn'd out and Disbanded and a parcel of Irish Popish Cut-Throats entertain'd in their places which seemed strange to the English Protestants there and not at all agreeable to what my Lord Clarendon and Sir Charles Porter had told them who were not themselves pleased with it but knew not how to help it But in England the King having established his Dispensing Power puts forth a Declaration for Liberty of Conscience pursuant to which the Goals all over England that were fill'd with Protestant Dissenters were clear'd and the Dissenters set at Liberty Who having been long oppress'd and almost ruin'd by severe Prosecutions for several Years together were now glad of a little Ease tho' the most Judicious among them saw clearly enough it was not for their Sakes but to introduce Popery that this Indulgence was principally Granted and therefore were always afraid of the Snake hid in the Grass The Episcopal Clergy who in the late Reign and the beginning of this also had been very severe to Dissenters began now to see they had
the Plew-Posts in Spring-Garden and struck with Horrour at so Stupendious a Wickedness acquainted the Earl of Portland with it intreating him to Discover it to the King which he did and Pendergrass was thereupon introduced by him to the King in his Closet where he opened the nature of the Conspiracy with the Circumstances but was a long time pressed to it before he would name the Conspirators which at last he did under Promise he should not be brought in for a Witness unless he would voluntarily do it This was seconded and confirmed by Monsieur De la Rue who was introduced to the King by Brigadier Lewson who gave in the Names of those he knew And much about the same time came Expresses from the Duke of Wirtemburg that the French Forces to the number of 22000 were drawn down to Callis Dunkirk and other Sea-ports where there lay about 500 Transport-ships and a great many Men of War to conduct them for their Landing in England with the first fair Wind with the late K. James at the head of them The Duke of Berwick had been in England and was returned with an account of what Preâ—arations their Friends were making here for their Reception which made the French King say he never knew a Design more fairly laid for assurance of Success and his Ministers bragged of it in Foreign Courts And indeed a great part of the Fleet did put to Sea before we had Notice of them but were driven back by contrary Winds and then lay expecting the Sign at â—â—ver-Clifts that King William was Assassinated and it was given out in France that he was drawing towards his end and that they wondered that they heard not of his Death At other timer times it was said he was Kill'd a Hunting c. which makes it plain their intended Invasion depended chiefly on their intenced Assassination for K. William alive to face them at the Head of his victorious Troops that had often beat them at their own Doors they could have little Hopes to prevail but they on the other hand expected to find us all in Confusion as they gave it out we were if the Assassination had taken but were strangely startled when they saw Admiral Russel with about 60 Men of War blocking up their Harbours and threatning to burn them with his Fire-ships which constrained the Land-forces to Disimbark and at length with Shame Loâ—s and excessive Charge gave over their Enterprize which the French thought before so easy that they said K. James was not coming to invade England but to take the quiet possession of his Throne and the 〈◊〉 King had sent him large Bundles of plausible Declarations to be dispersed at his Landing with a Promise to supply him with more Troops as he saw Occaâ—â—oâ— and Scotland as well as Eâ—gland was to have been invaded Whilst these things were doing beyond the Seas divers of the Conspirators were Seized here and imprisonâ—â— before the King put out his Proclamation as Charâ—ock Bartram â—rimeâ— Anbury and others and the King going to the House of Peers and senâ—â—iâ—g for the Commons acquainted them with the Conspiracy and intended invasion Whereupon they Congratulated his Safety and declared their Abhorrance of the Villanous and Barbarous Design Solemnly Promising to assist him to the utmost against the Late King and Deâ—â—â— his Royal Person against all his Enemies and if he should come by a Violent Death which God forbid to Revenge it upon the Papists and soon after entred into an Association to the same Purpose as since all the Cities and Corporations c. in his Dominions have done Expresses were sent immediately away to Scotland and Ireland the Sea ports stopped and all Suspected Persons with their Horses and Arms secured and an Act passed for the continuing the sitting oâ— the Parliament if the King should chance to Dye till the next Heir in Succession should come to the Crown to Dissolve it Thus things being pretty well secured and the King's Proclamation out for the Apprehending divers of the Conâ—pirators by Name and 1000l Reward with Pardon for such as should come in Voluntarily and make Discovery most of them that were known to be in it were Apprehended On the 11th of March Robert Charâ—ock Edward King and Thomas Keys were Tryed at the Old-Bailey on a special 〈◊〉 and upon full Evidence being found Guilty they received Sentence as â—â— Case or High-Treason and on the 18th were drawn to Tyburn and there Hang'd and Quartered Charnock and King boldly Confessing it in the Papers they left and Keys made no Denyal of it The next was Sir John Friend a Brewer in the Minories he took his Tryal for High-Treason at the Old-Bailey and being found Guilty as was also the next Day Sir William Parkyns both of them received Sentence as the fore-going and at their Execution owned the Fact in General and many Particulars and were nevertheless Absolved by three Non-jurant Parsons for which Presumption two of them were Committed Tryed and Fined The next that came on the Stage for this Horrid Conspiracy were Ambrose Rookwood Robert Lowick and Charles Cranburn who were Tryed at the King's-Bench-Bar at Westminster April 21 22. for High-Treason and the Fact being plain they were found Guilty and received Sentence and according to it they were Drawn Hang'd and Quarter'd Cramburn and Rookwood Confess'd what was Sworn against them and Lowick said he would willingly have assisted King James had he Landed The Heads and Quarters of these and the others Executed were set on the Gates of the City as terrible Examples of Offended Justice Two more were also brought to Justice on this Account viz. Mr. Peter Cook and Capt. Knightly the first found Guilty upon a long hearing and the latter Pleaded Guilty to the Indictment and both receiving Sentence have hitherto found sparing Mercy Things being at this pass the King having given Audience to the Venetian Ambassadors who passed through London in great State and dismissed them Prorogued the Parliament and leaving the management of Affairs in the hands of the Lords Justices went to the Army in Flanders And the Duke of Savoy contrary to the Mind of the Confederates clapped up a Peace with France No Memorable Transaction except a Battel between the Eâ—ector of Saxony and the Turks in Hungary has hitherto happened as to this Campaign and Peace more than War is at present the common Discourse And thus have I brought down this History to the Year of our LORD 1696 being the Eighth Year of the Reign of his most Excellent Majesty King WILLIAM the Third whom God grant Long to Reign FINIS
Courage for the recovery of what was so unjustly taken from him and that if he were destitute of Friends that might Advise and Council him he and his Nobles would willingly supply that defect if he wanted Gold or Silver the Sinews of War his Coffers should be open at his Service or if Valiant Men to Fight for him and his Right many Thousand Frenchmen would venture their Lives in his Quarrel These large and Friendly proffers which rather proceeded from the fear King Philip had of Englands Strength and Prosperity which might as indeed it afterwards fell out get the Ascendant over France than for any cordial Love he bore to the Young Prince keeping him only as a Trump Card in his hand to play his Game as he saw occasion However these great Proffers bore up his Spirits and he wholly cast himself on the French King for Protection submitting to be Governed and Ruled by him in all things Whereupon Forces were Levied in France and Normandy and hereupon some Strong Holds in the latter Revolted from King John and declared for Prince Arthur and others they won however the Kings Lieutenant raised Forces to oppose them so that between both Armies there happened divers Encounters with various success King John hearing of these stirs in Normandy thought there remained no time for delay but gathering a strong Power passed the Seas and joyning with his Lieutenant retook several Towns and Overthrew the Young Prince in a set Battel with great Slaughter of the French Nobles and others that were Engaged with him This made the French King begin to consider he had laid hold on the wrong end of the staff and from that time procured divers Prelates and some Princes as Mediators to bring on Foot a Treaty for a Peace which Treaty gave both sides a short breathing But the King of England's Proposals being no less than the restoring all the Towns taken a defraying of the charges of the War and that King Philip should put for ever Prince Arthur out of his Protection it came in the end to nothing so that the War renewed more furious than before by which means the poor Inhabitants of Normandy were grievously Oppressed by Burning Plundering and many other Miserie 's attendant on Hostilities However to repress these Outrages of the Invading French the King raised a yet greater Army but then found his Treasure was much too scanty to defray the charges of that Expedition of which the Nobles and Commons were no sooner made sensible but of their own accord they largely contributed rather than the Honour of the King and Kingdom should be Eclipsed by the Bravadoes of a dastardly Nation and then Landing with a gallant Army in Normandy the number of his Forces were daily augmented and not long after the two Armies met and sought a dreadful Battel in which the French were Overthrown and Prince Arthur with divers of the French Nobility taken Prisoners and sent to the Castle of Roan where as it was given out leaping from the Walls to make his Escape he leaped short fell into the Moat and there was Drowned Tho' Historians who have made Remarks What a few Steps there are between the Prisons and Graves of Princes tho' they do not charge the King with the knowledg of it are apt to conjecture that this Prince came to be Drowned by other means than his own attempt And indeed the King had all his Life afterward a very troublesome and turbulent Reign For now the Prince was Dead the French King began to pull off his Vizor laying claim to Normandy in his own Right and poured in such a number of Forces that King John's Treasure being spent he could not Levy in any reasonable time Soldiers sufficient to oppose their torrent so that wining many Towns and Castles the whole Dutchy to prevent the Ruin and Desolation threatened it Subjected it self to the French King after it had been disbranched from France about 319 Years And that the King should not be at leasure to Regain it the French King underhand found him work at home by making Pope Innocent the Third his Enemy For about this time Hubert Arch Bishop of Canterbury Dying the Monks of the Order of St. Augustin met in the Cathedral Church about Midnight without the Kings knowledg or License and chose one Reynold a Brother of their own to Succeed in the Archiepiscopal See taking of him an Oath to travel to Rome and procure his Investiture and receive the Pall from the Pope The King hearing of these unwarantable Proceedings was much displeased which so affrighted the Monks that to regain his Favour they proceeded to a second Election and chose John Grey a Person whom the King had nominated to them who was then Bishop of Norwich and so the Kings Anger being appeased he sent Ambassadors with his Letters to the Pope to Entreat him to Ratify the second Choice But in the mean time a new Schism or Faction appeared for the Suffragan because he was not made acquainted nor an Actor in either of the said two Elections made suit to the Pope to displace them both But he imitating the proud Example of many of his Predecessors who coveted to swim against the stream and seldom or never granted any Kings request least in some sort they should be thought to be yeilding neglected both their suits and confirmed Raynold who was first chosen But the King growing angry hereat the Monks to please him rather out of fear than complacency refused to receive into their Quire or own the Arch Bishop the Pope had Confirmed tho' he was of their own chusing giving this Reason for it viz. That it was done Clandestinly and at an unseasonable Time for as much as the choice was made in the Night when as it should have been done in the open Day and so they concluded it void and in it self a Nulity yet remained good till by Judicial Proceedings and a Sentence it were pronounced void so that this matter was Controverted at Rome where the Pope made specious shews and pretences of accomodating the matter to heal the Schisme so that it should be to the satisfaction of the King and Monks but his aim was otherwise for he designed to prefer a creature of his own viz. Stephen Langton a Man that would always move by his dictates having before been made Cardinal of Chrisogone and privatly he Wrote to the Monks to Choose him yet not so cunningly but the King had Notice of it and strictly charged them not to proceed to any other Election but the Popes Threats and Promises of Rewards dispensed with their Obedience to the Kings Commands so that they did Elect him their Arch Bishop This so exasperated the King that he commanded on severe Penalties no Appeals should be made to Rome and that from thence forth he would take a strict account of such of his Subjects that for any matter of Right or Justice should go to Rome to require it seeing he had
of War the King taking by force and surrender all the strong Castles and Fortresses into his hands and Oath of the Justices Mayors and Officers of the several Towns and Forts and having disposed all things to the best advantage and settled the Government in trusty hands he brought away the Crown Robes of State and Marble Chair from Scone in which the Scots Kings had always been Crowned and placed the latter in the Kings Chappel at Westminster and on it there is said to be a Prophetick Latin Distick in English to this Effect Where e'er this Stone is Plac'd the Scot shall find And there shall Rule for there his Reign 's Assign'd This may indeed seem to be verified in the Union of the two Kingdoms under King James the First of the Scotish Line But to proceed As soon as King Edward was returned from his Journey he caused an Enquiry which was termed Troli Baston to be made in all his Dominions of the Misdemeanors and Oppressions of his Officers and others so that the Number of the Transgressors were so many that heavy Fines being laid on them and they like so many full Spunges Squeezed of their Unjust Gains into the Kings Coffers they were plentifully replenished thereby not only to Pay off old Debts but to Recompence such as had at their own Expence faithfully Served him in his Wars and among other Complaints Dr. Langton Bishop of Chester Exhibited one to the King against Prince Edward whom he said at the Instigation of Pierce Gaveston his Loose and Evil Counsellor had forcibly broken into his Parks wounded his Servants and destroyed his Game Whereupon the Prince was committed to Prison during the Kings pleasure and Gaveston Banished upon pain of Death never to return into the Land and Edward Earl of Cornwal Son to Richard King of the Romans Dying without Issue he gave that Earldom to Prince Edward which Title with that of Chester have been since inseparable from the Princes of Wales A Peace being now had in Scotland things remained quiet for a time during which space Robert Bruce one of the Competitors came with divers Nobles to the English Court and was highly Entertained which they did only for a shew whilst they were dealing underhand with the Pope to favour their Cause nor was he slow in it but sent an Instrument in Writing by which he pretended to lay claim to the Kingdom of Scotland as holden of the See of Rome wherein King Edward was peremptorily required to surcease from all Demands of Tenure and Soveraignty over it But he stoutly Answered by his Ambassadors That it did belong to the Kings of England and not unto the See of Rome or to any other requiring him to revoke his unjust Claim for that both he and his Nobles were resolved to maintain his Right therein at the hazard of their Lives and Estates and the Ambassador shewing the Hands and Seals of the Nobles and most of the Prelates of England that had Sworn to this Resolution the old Blade with the Leaden Sword drew in his Horns whereupon Bruce secretly withdrew and raised Tumults in Scotland Yet the King forced him to fly into Norway where he remained till in Edward the Seconds Reign he returned to broach new Troubles But the King upon his Marching through Scotland Dyed commanding in his Last Will That his Son should SHROP SHIRE By John Seller carry his Bones with him till he had utterly Subdued the Rebells and that Gaveston should not be Recalled from Banishment also that his Heart should be carried to the Holy Land and there Buried He began his Reign November 16 Anno Dom. 1272 and Reigned 34 Years 7 Months and 21 Days being the 29th Sole Monarch of England He Dyed of a Dyssentery at Burg upon Sands July 7 Anno Dom. 1307 in the 69th Year of his Age and was Buried at Westminster In the Third Year of this Kings Reign on St. Nicholas Day very terrible Thunders Earthquakes and Lightenings happened also a great Fiery Dragon in the Air and a Blazing Star which much amazed the People In the Year 1288 the Summer was so Scorching that many Dyed of extream Heat yet Wheat was Sold at 2 s. 8 d. the Quarter and all Corn at a proportionable rate but the Year following by reason of the great Rains that fell Wheat was raised to 20 s. a Quarter and so continued near Forty Years which was in those times accounted a great Dearth Anno Dom. 1299 the Kings Palace at Westminster with the Buildings of the Monastery were consumed with Fire and a great Whale coming up the River was struck and taken over-against Erif being 40 Foot Long and proportionable in Bulk c. Remarks on Shropshire c. SHropshire is commodiously situated intermixed with Hills Plains Woods Forrests Chaces c. and produces Corn Rich Pastures Cattle and many other things to the advantage of the Inhabitants It is Bounded with Cheshire Staffordshire Worcestershire Herefordshire Radnorshire Mongomeryshire and Denbyshire It contains 15 Hundreds divided into 170 Parishes and haâ— in it 14 Market Towns and 18 great and small Rivers branching mostly from the Severn which plentifully Waters this Shire and others It sends Members to Parliament 12 viz. Bishops-Castle 2 Bridgnorth 2 Ludlow 2 Shrewsbury 2 Wenlock 2 and 2 Knights of the Shire In Shropshire besides Shrewsbury the County Town a noted Mart for Cloath and Frizes brought from Wales and thence dispersed into divers parts of England There are Remarkable Ruins of some Antient Places which were certainly Towns or Cities of great splendor as Workcester Uriconium the antient Usoconia of which Okenyat is a small remainder Oswalstree retaines its Name from Oswald the 11th King of Northumberland who was here Slain in Battel by Penda King of the Mercians The other Towns of Note are Wellynton Newport Braynton c. At Shrewsbury and other places on the Severn is taken a Fish called a Mort in Taste like a Salmon at Pitchford is a Well whose Water casts up a Scum of Liquid Bitumen and near Oswaldstree is a Vestigia of a Roman Camp The Seats of the Nobility are Pepperhill belonging to the Earl of Shrewsbury Highercal and Eyton to the Lord Viscount Newport Cherbury to the Lord Herbert Baron of Cherbury It has also in it 13 Bridges 13 Castles 7 Forrests and 27 Parks The Seats of the Gentry are likewise very pleasant and there is almost every where great store of Game and abundance of Fish The Reign of EDWARD the Second usually called Edward of Carnarvan EDWARD the Second Succeeded his Father in the Throne but having been brought up tenderly and given too much to Flatterers and loose Company he very early gave the Nobles cause to distast his Government for tho' his Father in his Last Will had strictly Prohibited his Recalling Peirce Gaveston from Banishment a Person who by his evil Example and pernicious Counsels had been the great Debaucher of his Younger Years yet he did it tho'
King to deliver him up to Execution which Insolent Behaviour Sr. William Wallworth Lord Mayor not able to endure Stabbed him with his Dagger so that he fell down Dead and then hasting to raise the City Militia the Rebells after some time were so amazed that they scattered and every one fled for his safety and it was not many days before most of the Ringleaders were by their Companions a thing that seldom fails in such tumultuous Rebellions delivered into the hands of Justice the better to obtain their own Pardons which in the height of their Pride they had scornfully thrown up and the King at this last Conference before their Faces had Cancelled them so that about 1500 or more of the principal Agents were Convicted and Executed in divers Places which put an end to these Popular Disorders and for this Exploit of the Lord Mayor the Dagger was added to the City Arms. Things thus Quieted and the Peoples Fears over The King sued for the Lady Ann Daughter to Charles the Fourth and Sister to Winceslaus the Emperour of Germany in Marriage which was Accorded and the Lady who was exceeding Virtuous and Beautiful was received with great Joy by the King and People and Anno Dom. 1385 he Summoned a Parliament at Westminster in which he Created his Unkle Edmund of Langley Duke of York and Thomas of Woodstock Duke of Glocester his Cousin Henry Eldest Son to the Earl of Lancaster Earl of Derby Edward Son to Edmund of Langley Earl of Rutland Sir John Holland Earl of Huntington and Thomas Lord Mowbray Earl of Notingham Declaring Roger Mortimer Earl of March Son to Edmund Mortimer and Philippa his Wife Daughter and Heires to Lionel Duke of Clarence Third Son to Edward the Third Heir apparent to the Crown but he was Slain by the Rebells in Ireland before the Kings Death And now the King fell into the dislike of his People by hearkening to evil Counsellours especially one Michael De La Pool whom he had made Chancellour and created Duke of Suffolk and Robert Vere whome he created Marquess of Dublin and Duke of Ireland and would have made him King of that Country if the Nobility would have consented to it so that he respected not the sage Advice and Counsel of the grave and most experienced Lords of this the Parliament took great notice and upon the Chancellours insisting on the Kings behalf for a Tax of four Fifteens affirming no less could support his Estate or maintain such Wars as he was likely to undertake the Lords and Commons not only opposed the motion but accused the Duke and others for lewdly Counselling the King and by their Purloyning to enrich themselves wasting his Treasure That by their bad Advice they had kept the King from coming amongst them which according to a received Law and Custom if he refused to do in Forty Days they might Legally break up and depart to their own homes without his leave and of this and other particulars they sent word to the King desiring him within three days he would come amongst them and give Life to those Laws they should make or they were resolved to separate But in Answer to this he required that a select Assembly of Fifty of their Members should attend him This was refused and the Duke of Gloucester and Thomas Arundel Arch Bishop of Canterbury were only deputed who plainly told the King of the Grievances of his People and that by his Absence from Parliament he obscured the light of Justice and hindered the Negotiation of the Commonweal And if he further declined it they must break up and depart to their homes They also craved with humble submssion as they were commanded to be informed by whom his Majesties Treasure belonging to the Commonweal was prodigally consumed and how it came to pass that his large Revenues could not suffice to maintain his Estate and charge seeing he had no Wars This Message and their Demands so angered the King That he Swore had he fore-known the sawcy bouldness of his Subjects whom as he supposed intended to rise in Arms against him he would more willingly have submitted himself to the King of France and have relyed on him for Protection than thus to be baffled and made servil to those whom his Soveraignty ought to command But the two Lords in all humble Duty shewed him that his People stood well affected towards him and that the French had been and were inveterate Enemies to the King of England With this and such-like submissive Discourse he was some what pacified and promised to come to his Parliament in three days and failed not to do it where by Proof and Accusation of the Lords Michael De La Pool Chancellour of England and Duke of Suffolk was Convicted of Purloyning the Kings Treasure and purchasing Estates with it to his own behoof and giving evil Counsel to the great damage of the Kings Subjects and other things so that his Lands were Sequestered to the King's use his Person Fined 20000 Marks committed close Prisoner and deprived of his Chancellourship and other Offices The Arch Bishop being made Chancellour in his stead and in the same Parliament thirteen Persons were Elected Sworn and Authorized with â—he consent of the King published in Writing under â—is Seal to Examine all or any of his Officers touching â—heir Demeanours in their several Offices and Trusts 〈◊〉 censure and condemn any that should be found â—uilty of henious Crimes and the King took an Oath â—ot to revoke or suppress this Commission without the â—onsent of Parliament and it further passed into a â—aw That if any Person should attempt directly or â—â—directly to perswade or encourage the King to inâ—â—ge his Oath and Promise touching all or any of these matters for the first Offence to lose his Lands and Goods and for the second to be proceeded against as a Traitor to the King and Kingdom And then a Subsidy of one half Fifteen was granted if the Commissioners upon view of the Kings Estate thought it needful and so an end was put to this Sessions of Parliament This was no sooner done but the King at the perswasion of his Counsellours Released his Favourite De La Poole and went with him the Duke of Ireland Tresillian his chief Justice other Judges and Ministers of State to Notingham where they Pronounced the Duke of Gloucester Arch Bishop of Canterbury and the Thirteen Commissioners to be Guilty of High Treason because against his will and consent they had compelled the King to Ratifie the Commission by his Oath and under his Great Seal so going to Coventry the Judges by an Instrument in Writing under their Hands and Seals declared and confirmed their Opinions to be agreeable and consonant to the Laws of the Land touching these matters Whilst Affairs had but an ill Aspect at home thâ— French King to Embroyl the Kingdom more if poâ—sible sent his Admiral with a Thousand Noblemen anâ— Gentlemen into Scotland with Arms and
Cursing any that should afterward Build it yet this Sorrow wasting by time to strengthen his Alliance he Sailed to France and took the Lady Isabel Charles the Sixth's Daughter to Wife and brought her to England with her Nurse and a great Train of Ladies and not exceeding Seven or Eight Years she was called The Baby Queen the King having contracted not to Bed her till she should be Fourteen Years of Age and a 30 Years Peace was concluded whereupon the King gave up to the Duke of Britany the strong Town and Castle of Brest which much offended the English Nobles especially the Duke of Glocester his Unkle who plainly told him he had dishonoured himself and the English Nation by tamely parting with such an important Place which had not been gained but at the expence of much Blood and Treasure this so angered the King that he privately Swore to be Revenged on him and such other Noblemen as he said usually checked and controuled him in his Proceedings and accordingly getting a Parliament to his mind Sir John Bushe one of his Creatures being Speaker of the Lower House This upstart Speaker boldly Accused Thomas Arundel Arch Bishop of Canterbury who fitting in the House of Peers by the King was ordered not to Answer and it should be no damage to him his silence nevertheless was taken for Confession and he was Banished the Realm the Earls of Arundel and Warwick in this Parliament were Attainted of High Treason upon which the former lost his Head and the latter being confined to the Isle of Wight through Grief and want of Necessaries shortly Dyed But the Duke of Glocester stood too high in the Peoples Favour to be reached this way therefore he was privately seized at his own House hurried to Callice and there by the command of Thomas Moubray then Earl of Notingham and for this wicked exploit created Duke of Norfolk the Valiant Prudent Virtuous and Renowned Duke was Smothered to Death tho' in the manner of it Authors disagree some will have it by pressing and keeping him long between Feather-Beds others that he was thrown into and headed up in a Butt of Malmsey However here he was wickedly made away and never seen afterward to the great grief of all but the King and his Favourites who hugged themselves with joy to think they had removed out of their way the great Obstacle that hindered their Advances to Arbitrary Power After this Moubray proceeded to Accuse Henry Duke of Hartford Son to the Duke of Lancaster of Speaking Treasonable and Scandalous Words of the King whereupon Hartford Challenged his Accuser to the single Combate to try by the Sword the Truth and Justice of his Accusation but when they were both entered the Lists and prepared for the Encounter the King threw down his Warder staid the Combate Banished Hartford for six Years and Moubray forever who Travailing to Venice there Dyed miserably confessing his Guilt and trouble for the Death of the Noble Duke of Glocester but Hartford was honourably Entertained by Charles the French King who would have Married him to a Beautiful Lady Daughter to the Duke of Berry his Unkle but King Richard industriously prevented it as fearing such an Alliance might enable him to grasp at his Crown and when the Duke of Lancaster Dyed he seized on his vast Treasure tho' he had given his Cousin Henry leave on his departure to appoint his Attorney to Act for him and take care of his Inheritance But these Proceedings bred much Mischief For the King having lost most of his old and getting a new set of Counselors viz. The Earl of Wiltshire Sir John Bushe Sir James Bagot and Sir John Green they advised him to many things contrary to the Advice of his grave Council and much troubled the People and now the Irish Rebelling the King to Raise an Army Farmed the Kingdom and all his Revenues belonging thereunto for certain Years and Sailed for Ireland The Duke of Hartford who wanted no Intelligence how matters went in England looked on the Peoples Ferment and the Kings Absence to give him a very favourable advantage to shake off his Chains wherefore as privately as he might he came to England accompanied by the Banished Arch Bishop and many other trusty Friends declaring to the People he only came to take quiet Possession of his Dutchy of Lancaster which by the Death of his Father was his Undoubted Right so that Trousands flocked to him And finding how the People were bent to favour his cause he Raised a considerable Army and seized the before named Counsellours whom they Beheaded King Richard in Ireland hearing of these Stirs setled Affaires there as well as he could and hasted over with a small Army but before he could pass Wales most of them had Deserted him and then being ascertained that his Counsellours in whom he had reposed much trust to Levy Forces for him were taken off despairing of any safety to be gained by force he came to Henry Duke of Lancaster of his own accord and publickly owned his Insufficiency and Weakness to Govern well praising the Duke's rare and singular Virtues his absolute worthiness to be a King c. profering to make him an absolute Surrender of his Kingdom if he would accept of it The Politick Duke who well knew this proceeded not cordially from him but from the effects of fear and constraint however refused it for tho' he much affected the wearing of a Crown yet he thought it more advisable to receive it at this time from the Nobility Gentry and Commonalty and hereupon he caused the King with a very respective and honourable Attendance to be conveyed to the Tower and a Parliament being called in his Name Twenty Four Articles were Exhibited against him for Mismanagement and ill Conduct in Government and many henious Crimes which in his Restraint he seemed to confess and own and by an Instrument under his Hand and Seal he Resigned his Crown and Kingdom to Henry of Bullenbrook Duke of Lancaster which being publickly and generally Ratified and Approved by the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and Commons Assembled in Parliament Henry stood up and made this Challenge to the Crown viz. In the Name of God Amen I Henry of Lancaster Claim the Realm of England and the Crown with all the Appurtinances as coming by the Blood Royal from King Henry the Third and the Justice which God of his Grace hath sent me by the help of my Friends for the Recovery of the said Realm which was at the point of Perdition through default of Government and breach of Laws These words being said all the Estates acknowledged him for King and Richard was formally Deposed in the words and in manner Recited in Edward the Seconds Reign and thereupon was sent to Pomfret Castle but long he had not been there ere upon some practices of his Favourites to Reinstate him he was villanously Murthered by Sir Pierce of Exton and Eight others of whom he
killing the Watch. And now the noble Earl of Warwick Dying the Duke of York a second time was made Regent of France yet the French by Encroachments and Revolts of many Towns encouraged when their Courage failed by one Joan of Arc a Martial Maid who pretended she was sent by Heaven to assist her Bleeding Country and indeed Leading the French Troops she did many brave Exploits till taken by the English after she had received many Wounds they tryed her and burnt her for a Witch tho' great Ransoms were offered for her by the French and this they the rather did not only for that she beat them off from the Siege of Orleance and worsted them in many Skirmishes but because the French conceived a superstitious confidence that whilst she Lived their Proceedings would be successful and prosperous Yet both Potentates in the End on the French recovering Ponthois growing weary of so tedious a War that had wasted their People and Treasure a Conference was appointed at Callice and here they often consulted about Peace but in conlusion adjourned the Negotiation because King Henry's Demands were looked on as unreasonable in Three Points viz. 1. In regard of the great Ransom demanded for the Duke of Orleance 2. For that the peaceable and quiet possession of the Dutchies of Aquitaine and Normandy were required without any Homage or Soveraignty acknowledged to the Crown of France 3. For that the surrendering and yielding up into King Henry's hands all such Cities Towns Forts and Territories in France as the English had at any time enjoyed within the space of thirty Years past was required However tho' the Parley was dissolved yet the Duke of Orleance being brought to Calice tho' King Henry the Fifth on his Death-Bed had commanded he should not be Ransomed he was Ransomed by the Duke of Burgundy and Honourably convey'd to the French Court And now to make way for Calamities at Home as well as Misfortunes Abroad a Quarrel arose between the Cardinal of Winchester and Duke of Gloucester for the Duke being Protector of the Realm making Complaints against the Cardinals Acting many things contrary to the Interest of the King and Kingdome without any Warant or making the King Acquainted with it The Cardinal in Revenge procured the Dutchess of Gloucester to be accused of Sorcery and Witchcraft holding correspondence with Witches to take away the King's Life and tho' most believed there was nothing at all in it yet the Cardinal being backed by the Clergy procured her upon groundless suggestions to do publick Penance twice in the City of London and to be doomed to perpetual Imprisonment and the better to colour the matter some who were pretended to be her Associates suffered the Flames After the refusal of some other Matches as the Earl of Arminack's Daughter c. King Henry by the means and procurement of the Earl of Suffolk Bribed by the French King Married the Lady Margaret whom he received by Suffolk his Ambassador at the Hands of the French King and Reyner her Father Duke of Anjou Titular King of Sicily Naples and Jerusalem tho' with her he had little or no Dowry which made the Match be much disliked by the Nobles and Commons Yet for this Service the Earl was created Duke of Suffolk and stood high in the Queen's favour and they soon found means to dismiss the good Duke of Gloucester from his Protectorship after he had a long time faithfully Served the King and Kingdom And soon after the deposed Protector by the contrivance of his Grand Enemies was Accused in a Parliament assembled by the Queen in the King's Name at Bury of High Treason and committed to the Tower where the next day he was found dead in his Bed to the great Grief of almost all the Kingdom as being a Pious Valliant and Virtuous Prince it was generally concluded he was Smothered for no Wound was found about him But God was not slow in requiring his Blood at the hands of those that were undoubtedly the contrivers of his fall for upon the removal of this great and beloved Statesman Richard Duke of York found an open way to thrust in and set up his pretensions of Title to the Crown making himself strong in Friends and Treasure the better to carry on his designs So that being now Intent on his own Advancement he grew carless of his Command which turned greatly to the advantage of the French for the Truce no sooner expired but they came strongly prepared into the Field and making three Armies took in divers little Towns and this success emboldened them that holding secret correspondence with the Inhabitants of Roan in Normandy they drew an Army before that City whereupon the Citizens compelled the Earls of Sommerset and Shrewsbury to Surrender the place having leave to depart to Caen with all their Goods Soon after Hareflew and divers other places were lost A Rebellion about this time breaking out in Ireland the Duke of Sommerset was made Regent or Lieutenant in Normandy and the Duke of York sent over to quell the Irish Rebells which he easily effected But this dividing weakening the English Strength the Kings Army in Normandy was Overthrown and Caen Lost and soon after all Normandy and now Divisions happened at Home for the Duke of Suffolk the Queens Favourite being Envied by the People they were Instigated by the Duke of York and his Faction to make many grievous Complaints against him upon the miscarriages in Government whereupon he was to please them colourably committed to the Tower yet had his Liberty at will which so Incensed them that making a Fellow their Captain nicknamed Blewbeard they fell into Rebellion but were soon Quelled and some of their Ringleaders Executed the rest were Pardoned Hereupon the King and Queen thinking to reconcile all Differences a Parliament was called but contrary to their expectation the Commons craved Justice on the Duke of Suffolk and upon his Associates viz. James Fines Lord Say and Treasurer of England John Bishop of Salisbury and some others whereupon he was Banished for Five Years but as he Sailed for France being way laid he was taken by an English Man of War brought to Dover and had his Head Choped off on the side of the Ship 's Boat supposed to be done by the Duke of York's contrivance yet he was not Lamented by any but the King and Queen because it was verily supposed he had a hand in the Duke of Glocester's death And now the Duke of York though in Ireland did by his Agents here stir up a Rebellion among the Plebeans whose Ringleader was Jack Cade who falsly Named himself John Mortimer right Heir to the Crown but the King's Forces dispersed them many being Slain and Cade being Proscribed and a Thousand Marks set on his Head it was soon after brought to the King The Duke of York being defeated in this by the Advice of his Friends returned out of Ireland without the King's leave and consulting with
taken Executed which discouragement made him return to Burgundy Yet soon after he Sailed for Ireland where he was received with Promise of large Assistance but not finding it according to his expectation he passed thence into Scotland and was highly welcomed by James the Fourth who esteeming him by reason of his Courtly Behaviour as the True Prince he represented Married him to Catharine Gourdon his Neice and then with a Puissant Army Invaded England which miserably wasted the Northern Borders and compelled King Henry to set forward with all the Forces he on the suddain could raise under the Command of Giles Lord Dawbeny but was soon recalled upon an Insurrection in Cornwal occasioned by the Levying a Tax to support the War They strongly charging the fault on John Morton Arch-Bishop of Canterbury and Sir Reynold Bray who as they said to Inrich themselves had advised the King to oppress his Subjects desiring they might be removed from their Dignities Offices and Punished as Enemies to the Common Weale and chose for their Captains Thomas Flammock a Lawyer and one Joseph a Blacksmith and gathering as they Marched brought a great Terrour on the City of London being joyned by the Lord Audley and many Thousands he brought to their assistance and found a free passage till they came into Kent where the Kentishmen opposed them and now the King thinking it his time to set upon them gave them Battel at Black-heath near Greenwich and totally Routed them slaying 2000 and taking their Ringleaders with many others Prisoners who were most of them Executed Joseph the Blacksmith glorying in his way to Execution that for this deed he should be Recorded in History and indeed he missed not of his Expectation The King being now at leasure to revenge the wrongs the Scots had done in the North ordered the Earl of Surry and Richard Fox Bishop of Durham to raise such Forces as they could and oppose their Ravages till he sent a greater Strength but these two active Men raised such a Power that the Scots upon their approach immediatly retired into their own Country and were followed by the English who retaliated in a fearful manner the injuries done within the English Pale winning and razing many strong Castles Towns and Fortresses and though the Scots King made shew he would give Battel and Challenged the Field yet in the Night he Decamped and gave his Army free leave to disperse it self so that for seven Days the English hunted them in Woods and Mountaines tho' to little purpose for Winter approaching the Barrenness of the Country constrained them to return to Berwick to receive King Henry's Orders But in the mean while Peter Hyalus Ambassador from Ferdinand King of Castile arrived to Mediate a Peace between England and Scotland yet it came to no more than a Truce for certain Years on condition the Scots King Banished Perkin and all his Adherents out of his Dominions and about the same time the French King sent to Ratify the Peace that had been concluded between King Henry and himself which was Accorded and Maximillian perceiving his Country of Flanders c. much Impoverished for want of the English Trade with many Entreaties procured it to be Restored and our Merchants coming to Antwerp were received by the Inhabitants with solemn Processions Feastings and all demonstrations of Joy imaginable Perkin Warbeck by means of the Truce being Expell'd Scotland Sailed away with four Ships and Landed in Cornwal where the ordinary sort of People received him with Joy and loud Acclamations raising in a short time a great Multitude to Aid him tho' for Rebellion they had severely smarted but a little before and immediately with great Multitudes he Besieged the City of Exceter but the Citizens stoutly withstood them in their Attempts to Scale the Wales slaying very many of them Whereupon they put Fire to the Gates and Burnt them but could not Enter by reason the Besieged Countermured them with Fire and kept it with continual supplies of Fuel so fierce that they had time to raise Bulwarks and Ramparts Then the Rebells by Threats and fair Promises endeavoured to oblige them to submit but these proved fruitless for being encouraged by the King who promised to come to their Relief very speedily with an Army they stoutly refused all Conditions of Surrender and upon the Kings approach the Siege was raised the Rebells Marching into Somersetshire where they laid Siege to Taunton Dean but being close followed Perkin with 60 Horse fled from the rest and finding the Sea-ports stopped he took Sanctuary in Beauley Abby near Southampton Registering his own and the Names of some few of his Companions who had got thither with him the greater part of his Train being Taken by the King's Light-Horse-Men who closely Pursued And the Multitude Submitting and throwing down their Arms were received into the Kings Protection unless some of the Chief who being Taken were Executed in divers places The King after this coming to Exeter highly commended the Citizens for their Loyalty and Courage rewarding the Meaner sort with Money and those of Note with Knighthood and profitable Places of Trust giving his own Sword to the Mayor with a Priviledge that it should always be born before him And the Sanctuary where Perkin was being incompassed with Armed Men and he perceiving their orders were to take him thence by force he Surrendered himself to the Abbor of Sheen Intreating him to procure the Kings Pardon for him whereupon he was brought to Westminster and publickly declared his mean Birth and Parrentage and that he had been perswaded to this Undertaking chiefly by the Dutchess Dowager of Burgundy whereupon with a Paper of all the Intreague Pinned on his Back he was set upon a Scaffold fastned in a pair of Stocks a whole Day before the Palace at Westminster and the following day in like manner at Cheapside-Cross and then made a close Prisoner in the Tower where Bribing the Keepers and practicing to Escape into Flanders tho' he had been Pardoned before he was for this Executed at Tyburn and the King laying hold on this to rid him of the fears he had of the True Earl of Warwick's being one day advanced to the Throne was not wanting of Evidence who Accused him to have attempted his Escape with Perkin and tho' having been kept in Prison from his Infancy so that he knew not a Goose from a Hen that poor Prince was wrongfully Condemned of High Treason and Beheaded on the Tower-Hill whose Innocent Blood fixed a stain on King Henry to all Posterity his Death being rather looked on as a State-Policy than any ways Just and that in this he had done that Crime for which he had so vehemently accused Richard the Third only with this difference That he made his Courts of Justice Guilty of a Crime not inferiour to what the other had imposed on private Assassins For this Edward Earl of Warwick was Son to George Duke of Clarence second Brother to
Counsellors which made him Fortify his Pallace and accept of a Guard of the Inns of Court Gentlemen who offered their Service to defend his Person from any Insults The Parliament hereupon apprehending a fear of Danger that threaten'd them assumed a Guard for their Defence constituting the Earl of Essex Captain of it and appointed an extraordinary Assembly in the City of London and soon after committed twelve Pishops Prisoners to the Tower which scared most if not all the rest from giving their Attendance and many Ministers of State were Accused and Censured And the Earl of Strafford upon his Tryal being accused of many things and plainly answering all that by Articles was laid to his Charge and the Court Adjourning without prefixing any time of meeting the Commons proceeded to draw up and dispatch a Bill of Attainder against him which the King with great difficulty and some reluctancy of Mind Signed but the Warrant for his Execution he laboured much to defer saying He had heard the Cause and believed in his Conscience the Earl was not guilty of Treason and yet he could not clear him of Misdemeanour but hoped a way might be found out to satisfie Justice and their Fears without oppressing his Conscience and had consulted about it with his Judges and Bishops before he had Signed the Bill as also a Bill for the sitting of the Parliament during the pleasure of both Houses which last was occasioned for satisfying the Scots who required vast Sums of Money However the Earl was Executed tho' the King laboured much to save him proposing his perpetual Imprisonment and many other things He was attended at his Execution on Tower-Hill by the Arch-bishop of Armagh and to this Effect addressed him to the People viz. That he was come thither to pay the last Debt he ow'd to Sin with a good Hope of rising to Righteousness that he Dyed willingly Forgave all and patiently submitted declaring himself Innocent of the Crimes charged against him wishing Prosperity to the King and People He advised his Adversaries to repent of their violent Proceedings against him saying He thought it a strange way to write in Blood the beginning of Reformation and Settlement of the Kingdom however he wished his Blood might rest and not cry against them declaring he Dyed in the Communion of the Church of England for whose Prosperity he Prayed and concluded with a Desire that the Spectators would pray for him And then had his Head stricken off There having been about this time some Tumults made about White-Hall and Westminster and the King being inform'd they were encouraged by the Lord Kimbolton and five Members of the House of Commons the King demanded those five Members whom he accused of High-Treason as also the Lord Kimbolton a Member of the House of Peers but they were refused to be delivered Whereupon he came with about 500 armed Men to the House of Commons where the Speaker resigned the Chair to him but looking about and not seeing those he expected for upon Notice they were withdrawn he declared his good Intentions to the Parliament saying He hoped they would send him those Members against whom he had matters of high Concern But they were so far from doing it that they put the City of London in Arms and Adjourned their sitting for five days forbidding the Citizens to help the King to find out any of the accused Members and so far were they from it that the Parliament sitting again they carry'd them in Triumph and placed them in their Seats shouting and threatning as they passed by White-hall and to lessen the King's Power the Parliament sent Letters to the adjacent Counties commanding the Militia to draw up in Arms Whereupon they found that upon occasion more than 20000 Men could be got in a Readiness These proceedings made the King withdraw to Hampton-Court whose absence much encreased the Parliaments Authority among the People and to endear them to the Citizens they adjourned from Westminster to London and sent their Mandates to the Governors of Sea-port Towns strictly forbidding them to Obey any of the King's Orders unless they were confirmed by them This more weaken'd his Power than all their former Proceedings which the King by an early precaution in Garisoning those parts might have prevented The King considering that things were likely to go ill and that he had given away his Power and could not dissolve this Parliament he endeavoured by mild Terms to win them to his Interest and Writ from Windsor protesting his good meaning towarâ—s both Houses and that he would be ready to any thing that might be for the good of his People whereupon they sent Messengers to desire him to return to London but for some Reasons he refused it Hereupon the Commons drew up an humble Remonstrance which seemed so unreasonable to the Peers as to what therein they proposed that they rejected it till they saw the Commons uniting against them and then Messengers were sent to the King with it who with some Reservation yielded to part of it and denyed the rest which not satisfying them they proceeded to Petition the King That the accused Members might be freed from all imputation of Guilt which was Granted During the King's being busie in Scotland a horrid Conspiracy and Rebellion broke out in Ireland which was discovered but the Night before it began to the lords-Lords-Justices by Owen O Conally by which means Dublin and some other places were secured and divers of the Conspirators apprehended However it was carry'd on with such a Rage and Fury by the Encouragement of the Popish Priests Monks and Fryars that nothing for a time but Slaughter and miserable Cruelties on the English and Scots were to be seen in most of the Provinces the Romish Priests loudly declaring that they were Hereticks and ought to be Extirpated from the Earth that it it was no more Sin to kill them than Dogs and a mortal one to Relieve and Protect them giving the Sacrament to divers on condition that they should spare neither Man Woman nor Child saying It did them a great deal of Good to wash their Hands in their Blood and they were told If any of the Murtherers in this Attempt were slain they should immediately go to Heaven so that nothing but Blood-shed and piteous Cries were to be seen and heard in most parts of that Kingdom The King to Redress this Solicited the Scots Parliament to send ovâ—r Forces but they refused Alledging It was a dependant Kingdom on England and if the English Parliament would make use of and pay any of their Men they might raise them or otherwise they would not intermeddle And the Parliament of England being slow in sending over Succours about 200000 of all sorts fell in this unparrallel'd Massacre but Forces going over the Cut-throats were every where Routed many Slain and the rest betook themselves to their Fastnesses and the state of Affairs were restored to some good Order The Contendings between the
and there being attended on a Scaffold before the Banquetting-House by Dr. Juxon Bishop of London he made a Profession of his Innocency and of his Faith forgiving his Enemies and praying to God not to lay his Blood to their Charge seeming troubled that he had consented to the Sentence against the Earl of Strafford and after this and much more to the like Purpose he kneeling down gave the Sign to the Executioner by stretching out his Arms and at one Blow had his Head separated from his Body which being put in a Coffin covered with Velvet was carried to Windsor and buried in a Vault in St. George's Chappel Thus without President fell King Charles when he had Reigned 23 Years 10 Months and 3 Days being the 24th Year of his Reign and 49th of his Age. Put to Death by the Hands of his own Subjects contrary to all Law and Justice universally Pitied but unable to be help'd by his People He was one of the Chastest Princes that ever sate upon the Throne being all along so true to his Queen that he never Defil'd his Marriage-bed And had he not given too much heed to Buckingham Laud and some other fâ—attering Parasites and Courtiers who were continually Buzzing into his Ears nothing but Absolute and unlimitted Power putting him upon Dissolving his Parliaments and then raising Money and Ruling without them as appear'd by his Twelve Years interval of Parliaments viz. from Anno 1628 to 1640. whereby he lost the Love of his People he had never been brought to that dismal Catastrophe but might have Liv'd and Dy'd a Happy Prince And this may be observ'd from this King's Reign as well as from several before That never any Prince fell out with his Parliament and went about to Establish an Arbitrary Power but he not only found himself Mistaken but also thereby made himself Miserable Before the breaking out of this unnatural War amazing Sights were seen in the Air of Firey Men and Horses running at each other with Launces encountring with great Blasts of Lightning and noise of Thunder In Gloucester-shire Spectres were seen in a large Field not far from that City drawn up in Battalia furiously Engaging and then Vanishing to the Amazement of the Beholders The Reign of King CHARLES The Second KING Charles the First being put to Death the Relicks of the Parliament began to take out of the way such Nobles and others as they supposed would obstruct their Proceedings and particularly Duke Hamilton the Earl of Holland and the Lord Capel were Beheaded for Treason pretended against them And now to make their Power the Stronger they combined with the Army-Officers And tho' Charles Son to the preceding King had an undoubted Right to the Kingdom they proceeded to bar him and all the Royal Line as they hoped from the Crown or any other from being King or chief Magistrate unless by Publick Act of Parliament so appointed and that it should be Treason in any to attempt to further King Charles the Second by them generally called Charles Stewart in his Designs to possess the Crown by Proclaiming him or any Assistance given to him taking great care not to admit the Secluded Members lest they should put a stop to the Current of their Proceedings taking down every where the King 's Arms and placing the Harp and Cross in their places called the States Arms and having taken down the late King's Effigies from the Royal-Exchange they caused to be inscribed in the place where it stood in Letters of Gold Exit Tyranus Regum ultimus Anno Libertatis Angliae Restitutiae Primo Anno 1648. Jan. 30. All Titles in Processes of Law were altered and instead of Carolus Dei Gratia c. was put in Custodes Libertatis Angliae c. The King's-Bench was called the Vpper-Bench and a new Stamp was made for Money having on the one side the Cross and on the other the Cross and Harp inscribed The Common-wealth of England on the one side and God with Vs on the other also a new Great Seal was prepared with the Cross and Harp on the one side with this Inscription The Great Seal of England and on the other side the Picture of the House of Commons with these Words In the first Year of Freedom by God's Blessing restor'd 1648. Things being thus Moddelled whilst King Charles was in France Solliciting for Aid to possess him of his Kingdoms Fairfax out of some dislike to the Patliaments proceedings laid down his Commission which was given to Oliver Cromwel who from this time laid the Projection of his future Greatness And indeed in his attempts on Ireland and Scotland he was so Successful as to reduce them to the English Obedience with incredible Slaughter of the Natives However King Charles was proclaimed by his Friends in England and Ireland and soon after in Scotland And now Money being wanting to maintain the Parliaments Armies c. the Crown-Lands Dean and Chapter and Bishops Lands were Sold with many stately Houses and most of the Castles in England Demolished and all Persons expelled from Places of Trust in Church and State that Subscribed not to be Conformable to the New-modelled Government The Scots all this while were Debating how to Restore the King who was in the Isle of Jersey and coming to a Result sent the Laird Libberton and Mr. Windram to him with Proposals the Heads being these 1. That he should Sign the Solemn League and Covenant 2. That he should Pass divers Acts concluded on in the two last Sessions of Parliament in Scotland 3. That he should recall the Commissions given to Montross 4. That he should put from him all Papists and appoint some place in Holland to treat with their Commissioners and give them a speedy Answer And Sir William Fleming being sent by the King to the Estates of Scotland Breda was appointed for the place of Treaty and Commissioners were sent to represent the Kirk and State who delivered what they had in Charge to the same Effect as has been mentioned But whilst the Treaty held the Marquess of Montross making new Attempts was Surprized in Scotland where with much Indignity he was brought to Execution and Hanged on a Gibbet of extraordinary height Dying with a Courage and Bravery suitable to that wherein he had Lived and Quarters were set up in divers places This being done in a full Treaty greatly Displeased the King because he had his Commission and had acted in his Cause but the necessity of his affairs made him pass it over and he Condescended to most of the Proposals The Parliament of England soon heard of their Treaty and to prevent its taking effect sent an Army under Cromwel into Scotland and manning out a Fleet Admiral Blake fell in with Prince Rupert's Squadron sinking and burning most of the Ships he Commanded for the King however matters being agreed on the King hastened to Scotland and Landed at Spey where several Lords came to him and the Town of
the Popish-Plot and set up another in it's room against all the honest Gentlemen in the Nation For the Parliament having oppos'd the Duke's Succession his Design was to destroy all those Gentlemen that were active against Popery and to bring Popery in Per fas ne fas And this appear'd plainly not only in Scotland where the Duke reign'd as High-Commissioner and by whose Means the Earl of Argyle was Try'd Condemn'd and design'd to be Executed had he not Providentially made his Escape but in England also as appear'd by Dangerfield's Evidence first and afterwards by Fitz-Harris his Plot For after several Prorogations of the Parliament before they sat viz. from the 17th of October 1679. to the 21th of October 1680 they then sat but found things had been carried on so high against the Interest of the Nation by a sort of Men that were called Tories and that joyn'd with the Popish Party to stifle the Popish-Plot and in advancing Arbitrary Power declaring their Abhorrence of Petitioning the King for the sitting of the Parliament that they resolved to make Examples of some of them Voting against Sir George Jefferies Sir Francis Withens and some others who were preferr'd by the Court for being against the Interest of the People In this Parliament after a full Hearing by the House of Lords the Lord Stafford one of the Popish Lords in the Tower was found Guilty of High-Treason Condemn'd and Executed But the Parliament being high for the Bill of Exclusion it having Passed the House of Commons the King first Pâ—orogued and soon after Dissolved them But presently issues out Writs for calling another at Oxford the 21th of March following which was 1681. In the mean time one Fitz-Harris an Irishman speaks to Everard his Countrey-man and one of the Discoverers of the Popish-plot to write him a villanous Libel against the King and the Duke this Libel was to be Printed and put into the Pockets of the most Active Men in the Kingdom against Popery both Lords and Commons who were thereupon to be taken up and Try'd for High-Treason Everard writes this Libel and brings Fitz-Harris to his Chamber to hear it Read but first Discovers the matter to Sir William Waller and plants him in his Closet where he might hear the Libel Read unknown to Fitz-Harris after having heard the Libel Everard asks Fitz-Harris how he lik'd it who told him very well Upon this Sir William Waller goes to the King and discovers the whole matter to him the King seem'd to be very well pleas'd and orders Fitz-Harris to be taken up and Committed to Prison which was accordingly done Tho' Sir William was afterwards told when he went from the King that the King was highly displeas'd with him for this piece of Service and said he had broke all his Measures Fitz-Harris being taken and Committed Prisoner to Newgate he was Examined by Sir Robert Clayton and Sheriff Cornish and seem'd willing to discover the whole Design the next Day But the next Day he was remov'd to the Tower and there kept a Close Prisoner And now the Parliament met at Oxford where one of the first things they Debated was the Business of Fitz-Harris who was Impeached by the Commons but the Lords refused to joyn in the Impeachment which the Commons look'd upon as a Denyal of Justice and finding the Design was to stifle Fitz-Harris's Evidence in whose Plot some Persons of the highest Rank were Concern'd they Voted against the Tryal of Fitz-Harris by any inferiour Court whatsoever This being the Posture of Affairs the King on the 28th of March Dissolves the Parliament and immediately took Coach and went to Windsor leaving both Houses in Amaze and the City of Oxford in great Confusion as was the whole Nation soon after upon the News of it This Dissolution was follow'd by a Declaration as his Father had done before him This being done the Business was to bring in a new Plot to destroy the Protestants but Fitz-Harris must first be taken out of the way being Try'd before Pemberton who was made Lord Chief Justice as was supposed for that Purpose and soon after Executed at Tyburn with Oliver Plunket the Titular Primate of Armagh for the Popish-Plot About this time the City of London having chosen of their Sheriffs Men of Integrity to wit Henry Cornish and Slingsby Bethel Esquires which was a means of having Good and Upright Juries the Enemies of the Government could not so well carry on their Designs which made them uneasie and resolve to have better for their purpose next Year but were therein again Disappointed for the Citizens chose Thomas Pilkington and Samuel Shute Esquires two very honest Gentlemen and this was the Reason that when they design'd to introduce their Protestant Plot by the Tryal of Stephen Colledge a Joyner by Trade but an active Man in the Discovery of the Popish-plot and therefore most commonly known by Name of the Protestant Joyner they were disappointed by the Grand-Jury's bringing in the Bill against him Ignoramus it being only sworn to by some Witnesses of the Popish Plot in Ireland who being Discountenanced were reduc'd to extream Poverty and now were by the Tories hir'd to Swear for Bread But the Popish Faction resolv'd to go on with their Show and therefore Colledge was Committed Prisoner to the Tower and soon after a Bill prefer''d against him at Oxford where they had a Jury to their Mind who found it Billa vera whereupon he was had down to Oxford and Tryed for a Design to Seiz the King there at the sitting of the Parliament and tho' he made an excellent Defence notwithstanding all the Foul play that was offered him yet he was brought in Guilty and soon after Executed declaring his Innocency and that he was the first but should not be the last that suffer'd for his Zeal against Popery in which he was a true Prophet The Earl of Shaftsbury was next Indicted of High-Treason but the Evidence against him being only some of those Baffled Witnesses and other Profligate Persons whom the Grand-Jury could not believe and therefore brought in the Bill Ignoramus This was a great Mortification to the Popish Party who desir'd nothing more than to take off this Noble Lord and therefore finding the great Obstacle to their Designs were Juries it was resolved by the Faction to take away the City Charter and thereby their Power of chusing Sheriffs And accordingly a Quo Warranto was brought against the Charter of London which was Prosecuted with that Earnestness that notwithstanding the Learned Pleading of the City Council in the behalf of the Charter Judgment was given against it and their Liberties and Franchises seized into the King's Hand And the Mayor and Sheriffs were appointed by the King and acted by Commission from him during his Pleasure About this time the Duke of York going by Sea into Scotland to fetch back his Dutchess whom he had left there in the Gloucester Frigat she was unhappily cast
Writing had it been prov'd his was only an Answer to Sir Robert Filmer's Treatise of Absolute Monarchy which had been the Design not only of this but of the two preceding Reigns yet this Evidence such as it was was sufficient with such Juries as then were pack'd for their Purpose to find the Collonel Guilty notwithstanding the Learned Defence he made for himself So that he was Condemned and Beheaded dying with a Greatness of Mind worthy of himself The Duke of Monmouth who was also one of the Lord Howard's Council of Six had for some time absconded but now upon his Submission to his Father and his Unkle was admitted to Court but being urg'd to make a fuller Discovery and Confession of the Plot which he affirm'd he knew nothing of he fell again into his Unkle's Displeasure and consequently into his Father's and so was Banished from the Royal Presence Several others who were said to be concerned in this Plot fled beyond Seas and were Out-lawed for not appearing here in Court among whom was one Holloway a Bristol-Merchant who was taken at Nevis in the West-Indies and brought over hither He was wrought upon by some of the Duke's Creatures to make a Confession and he should have his Pardon and when he had own'd enough to Hang himself he was offered the Benefit of a Tryal which he refused and flung himself upon the King's Mercy and so was Executed And not long after Sir Thomas Armstrong Master of Horse to the Duke of Monmouth who upon the Proclamation put out for apprehending him had fled into Holland was taken out of Leyden by Surprize and brought to London and Committed to Newgate and it being Term-time was soon after carried to Westminster where that infamous Wretch Sir George Jefferies being at that time Lord Chief Justice order'd him to be Executed the Friday following he being already Out-lawed But Sir Thomas boldly Demanded the benefit of the Law which was on his side for by a Statute of the 6th of Edw. 6. it was Enacted That if any Person Out-law'd for Treason being beyond the Sea shall within one Year after such Out-lawry render himself to the chief Justice of England he should Reverse his Out-lawry and take a Tryal which Sir Thomas then desir'd it being his Case But the Cheif Justice over-rul'd it and would not admit of his Plea nor let him have Counsel to Argue it But gave a Rule of Court for his Execution the Friday following the Impudent Chief Justice charging Richardson in a Jeering manner to see that Sir Thomas had the full benefit of the Law then And accordingly he was drawn up on a Sledge to Tyburn and there Executed Denying his Knowledge of any Plot whatsoever against the King But Sir Thomas's Death was Voted Murther by the Parliament since this happy Revolution The pretence of this Plot gave them a specious Ground to Persecute the Dissenters the Goals throughout England being at this time filled with them and Multitudes Cited to and Excommunicated by the Spiritual Courts for Nonconformity Executing upon them all the Vengeance that was possible Some being punish'd as Rioters some for Treasonable Words and some upon Actions of Scandalum Magnatum and Fined Exorbitantly beyond all Law or Reason of which last Sir Thomas Pilkington and Dr. Oats were Severe instances each being Fined 100000 l. to the Duke But a little before this time the Vertuous Lady Anne youngest Daughter to the Duke was Married to Prince George the King of Denmark's Brother the Match being generally liked by the People he being a Protestant Prince And the Hamborough Company in Gratitude for Favours receiv'd from the King in Relation to their Charter erected his Statue of grey Marble in the midst of the Royal-Exchange in the Habit of a Roman Caesar This was the State of the Nation when upon Monday the second of February 1684 5 the King was taken with an Apoplectick Fit which if it carried him not out of the World then 't is certain it did the Friday following Dying in the 54th Year of his Age having Reigned 36 Years and some few Days He was a Prince that very much indulg'd himself in taking his Pleasure and was very unlike his Father in this That he was a great Lover of Women and kept variety of them as the Dutchess of Cleaveland Nell Gwynn and the Dutchess of Portsmouth the last of which was made use of by his Brother to make the King do whatever he had a mind to have done for so much was the King taken with her French Charms that he could deny her nothing And therefore advancing of Favourites was done by her Mediation and even Parliaments themselves Prorogu'd or Dissolv'd if she had a Mind to have it so He was not a Prince Bloody or Cruel in his own Nature yet by the Ascendant his Brother had over him many worthy Persons lost their Lives in his Reign He was a Prince of very good Natural Parts had they not been Vitiated by giving himself up so much to the satisfaction of his Lusts His making War with the Dutch and joyning with France against them weaken'd the Protestant Interest and has made the French so Formidable to Europe And having carry'd on his Brother's Designs in Masquerade as long as he thought Convenient he dyed of a sudden but whether Naturally or by some Foul Play I will not determine tho' the latter was much Suspected However the Nation had a real Kindness for him and the News of his Death fill'd all Eyes with Tears and all Hearts with Sadness except those of the Papists and some Tories that were worse than they But this proceeded chiefly from the Fears and dismal Apprehensions the People had of the ensuing Reign In the Eleventh Year of this Kings Reign a Prodigious Whale came up to Greenwich and run it self on shore there soon after which Oliver Cromwel then Protector died In his 17th Year 3 Blazing Stars appeared of different shapes and colours which were look'd on to be the Denuntiators of ensuing Judgements In his 18th Year was a great Plague in London of which died far more than ever did in any Plague before and in the next Year the greatest part of the City of London was Consumed by Fire In the 33d Year of his Reign on the 18th of May 1680 a great storm of Hail fell in London and the parts adjacent the Hail-stones being of an extraordinary bigness some of them nine inches about and generally as big as Pullets Eggs with the figures of Stars and other curious works upon them being also very hard Several Rooks in the Temple-garden being kill'd by them and many Sky-lights in London broken to pieces by their violent failing upon them Soon after which a Prodigious Blazing-Star appeared in the West for several Weeks together In the 37th Year of his Reign there was a great Frost that continued from the beginning of December to the end of February in which time the Thames was frozen